To Become a Pokémon Master
by SelfUnacceptance
Summary: No one ever thought becoming a Pokémon Master would be this hard. As Ash Ketchum, the would-be hero of our story, begins his first adventure through the Kanto Region, meeting lifelong friends, he'll overcome many trials and hardship, thus growing as a person. But the hardest and biggest obstacle he'll have to overcome is himself.
1. Getting Started

To Become a Pokémon Master

Rockets in the Sky

Chapter 1

Getting Started

"Ash!" his fair mother called from the kitchen as she slaved over the burning hot stove. "Dinner's almost ready!"

Ash shook the SNES controller in his hand and moved with the game as he replied "Okay!" to his mother hastily, trying not to draw too much of his attention away from the exciting racing game. He was in first place on the final lap and nearing the finish line- certainly one of the most critical moments of his life. But the wafting aroma of baked potatoes smothered in gravy and butter with deliciously cooked, well-done steak complimenting it, followed by succulent vegetables was too much for him. The fragrance of the masterfully cooked food lifted him into the air as he fluttered down the stairs and drooled over the delicious food placed on the table. "Wow, mom! Dinner looks great!" he exclaimed as he quickly sat down and pulled plate after plate of food toward him.

His mother, Delia, could only let out a small sigh and smile at her gluttonous son as she pulled a few plates of food toward her and joined him. "You've always loved your food." she smiled. "When you're gone tomorrow, I'll certainly have some cash in my pocket with all the money I'll save on food!"

Ash only had time to smile as his hand brought up a whole steak on a fork up to his mouth and he just had to take a large bite of it.

"So have you given any thought on what Pokémon you were gonna pick?" she asked.

Ash managed to pause from stuffing his face, as most of his food was on his face anyway, and thought for a second. "I'm not really sure. There's Squirtle, Bulbasaur, and Charmander, right?"

His mother nodded. "Squirtle is a Water type, Charmander is a Fire type, and Bulbasaur is a Grass type. I've heard that most trainers pick Bulbasaur because it has a type advantage over the first three gyms."

"I'm sure I'll know when I get there." Ash simply shrugged his shoulders and went back to eating. He soon paused again and placed his silverware on the table, looking up at his mother with a stern expression on his face. His mother saw him and trembled slightly, knowing exactly what he was thinking. "What did dad choose?"

Delia's silverware fell to her plate as she sat there, utterly silent with a dark, grim expression on her face. The afternoon was going os well until her son just had to go and pry on things that had been better left forgotten. Her blood boiled and veins crinkled up her neck as she did her best to conceal the rage building up inside that could surely do more than just flip the table she sat at. "Ash, you know your father is not a subject up for discussion."

"Come on, mom!" he annoyingly groaned. "I'm ten years old and I'm getting ready to start my adventure tomorrow! Don't you think its time I know who he is? I could meet him and never even know it was him!"

Delia's fist slammed on the table in anger as she rose up and barked down at her son "You will _never _meet your father! He's taken a different road than you're taking. One that surely will never allow your paths to cross."

"Can't I at least know his name?"

Delia vigorously shook her head and retired from the room, leaving him with the closing remark of "Some things are just better left unknown. Leave it be, Ash. Get some sleep. You've got a big day tomorrow."

Poor Ash Ketchum was left alone at a table of what was delicious, amazing food but now churned his stomach just to look at it. Never before had he seen a rage such as that overcome his mother to the point of having to leave the room and run from the situation. It broke his heart to see his mother so angry and he wanted to apologize, but chose not to in fear of another yelling session between the two. Following her orders, the boy went to his room and prepared for the big day that awaited him tomorrow.

That next day, a bright, shinning sun in the sky pierced through his window and awoke him from his deep slumber. As he rubbed his eyes, a smile painted itself across his face as he realized what day it was and he quickly got up. With a quick dash into the bathroom, he brushed his teeth, combed his black, spiky hair, and got dressed. A turn of his official Pokémon League Expo baseball cap, a pop of the collar of his blue jacket, and snag on his brown belt that held up his blue jeans, he deemed himself ready to head on over to Professor Oak's Laboratory.

Ash quickly rushed downstairs, almost falling multiple times, and arrived in the living room only to see his mother nowhere to be found. "Mom!" he yelled after checking around the house for a few minutes, but no answer was called out back to him. It wasn't long before he began to worry about where she was and decided to go to her room. Upon arrival, the door was tightly shut and locked seeming to be with the explicit purpose of keeping him out. He knocked softly on the door and waited, but no reply was heard. Sadness and worry began to fill the soon-to-be trainer's heart as he kept knocking and even tried breaking the door down with his shoulder. "Come on, mom! I'm gonna be late! I just wanna say bye!" but after multiple attempts to enter her room ending in failure, all his body wanted to do was lean his back against the door and slowly slide to the ground with his knees up to his face.

Delia also sat in the same position on the other side of the door with tears slowly streaming down her face. All her son wanted to say was good-bye, but her heart could not bear such a parting, having already had her husband leave on less than better terms. She was grateful her son had no memory of that event, only being five at the time, but was also fearful of the same thing happening to her with him. Would she say something that she regretted? Would she upset him? Would she accidentally let information about the demon that is his father leak? She didn't know and she cared to never know. Her heart only shattered and rendered her motionless as she heard small, soft whimpers of her son from behind the door. The already shattered pieces of her heart shattered into even tinier pieces as she remained in a quiet sadness as to not worry her son even more. After moments passed, a small piece of paper was slid underneath her door and the footsteps of her soon slowly faded away until the door downstairs slammed, which meant that he left. Delia's fingers slowly moved to grab the piece of paper as she unfolded it.

"_Dear Mom, I guess you're sleeping, so I won't bang on your door anymore. I'm sorry if I woke you, but I just wanted to say good-bye before I left today. You are and always will be my mother and you're an incredible one. I just wish I didn't make you so upset last night when I asked about dad. I didn't mean to, I was just curious. I don't even know his name or anything. But I **will **uncover the mystery about my father, whether you like it or not or whether you tell me who he is or not. I'm sorry, mom, but I have to know who he is and why he just left us. But remember, no matter what happens, you're still my mother and no one can take you away from me._

_Especially dad._

_Love, your son, Ash Ketchum"_

Ash wiped the tears from his eyes, ready to begin his day anew, and rushed through the streets of the small Pallet Town, up to the top of a hill where a large, white building with a large windmill resided. Tall, brass gates and a brick fence surrounded the property with a little buzzer off to the side on the fence. The boy pressed the red button and knelt down to speak through the intercom. However, before he could present himself, a womanly voice spoke.

"Professor Oak's Laboratory- how may I help you?"

"My name is Ash Ketchum. I have an appointment with Professor Oak today."

"Oh!" the womanly voice exclaimed happily. "Of course, of course. Please, come on up!"

The gates slowly opened up, but in his impatience to wait for them to open all the way, he slid through the opening once it was large enough for his slender body. The boy quickly ran up the hill and marveled at the sight of all the Pokémon that lived on the premises. Pidgey and Fletchling flew through the skies above him, chirping happily, Aipom and Mankey swung from tree branch to tree branch, Lillipup ran through the fields playing together, and Goldeen and Basculin jumped beautifully from the ponds. All of the Pokémon nearly took Ash's breath away as he continued to the laboratory and upon arriving, flew open the doors. Ultimately, the boy was let down when he saw not Professor Oak, but something he never expected.

A boy stood in the middle of the main room. His hair was brown and spiky. A green jacket covered his torso and somewhat wrinkled, purple pants covered his bottom. He turned around with a snide expression on his face and smirked at Ash. "Well, well, well, if it isn't Ashy-boy! Haven't smelt you in a long time."

_Now_ Ash's breath was taken away as he stared right into the face of his old childhood friend, Gary Oak. The two had rocky history together, being friends since they were in diapers. That was back when things were good. They even participated at Professor Oak's Summer Camp when they were younger, but a scuffle over a girl turned the two best friends into what they were today- rivals. That isn't to say that they hated each other, but feelings of friendship weren't all that were present between the two. "Gary?" Ash nearly gasped. "What're you doing here?"

Gary folded his arms and groaned impatiently. "I'm waiting here for gramps to get back so I can get my Pokémon! What's a shrimp like you doing here?"

Ash shrugged his shoulders and sat down in a nearby chair. "Looks like the same thing."

"Pfft. Figures. He always liked _you_ more anyway." Gary scoffed.

Ash raised an eyebrow at his rival's words. "What are you talking about? You're his grandson. Obviously he likes you more."

Gary scoffed again and turned his head away, ending that conversation and starting a new one. "So what have you been up to?"

"Nothing much, really. Just-"

"Alright!" Gary quickly interrupted. "You're boring and this is boring." he started towards the door and called Ash over to follow him. "C'mon, let's go find gramps."

Ash stood up hastily walked over to his side, trying to keep up with Gary's fast-paced walking as he started down the hill. "Ah! Hey, shouldn't we wait for Professor Oak to come back?"

Gary put his hands behind his head and continued to leisurely, but quickly, walk down the hill, already nearing the gates. "Pfft. If I know gramps, he's just studying out on Route 1. It isn't that far away but he'll be out there for hours if we don't go get him."

"That doesn't sound very sa-"

Gary stopped and turned around to Ash, looking him dead in the eye with a sly smile and teased him by asking "What are you, Torchic?" (Pokémon slang for "chicken")

Ash was taken off guard by the question and paused for a second, unable to answer the question.

Gary had begun to place his arms on his sides and cluck circles around Ash, mercilessly taunting him. "Tor-tor-tor-torchiiiiiiiiiic!"

Ash suddenly found himself grabbing his rival by the collar of his black t-shirt and holding him up to his face with an offended, angry expression on his face. "I'm no Torchic!" he growled.

Gary slapped his rival's hand off his shirt and smirked at him. "Then come on. Let's go find him."

Having been callously persuaded by Gary, the two would-be trainers set out for Route 1 as fast as the possibly could. They blazed through the small town like Ninjask with a Burn condition and arrived at a patch of tall grass. Gary stopped and skimmed the area, hoping to find his grandfather, but had no such luck. "He's got to be around here somewhere..."

"Hey, look!" Ash said, pointing off in the distance to a rustling patch of grass. At the sound of his yell, the rustling patch began to quickly move closer and closer to the two boys. Electricity sparked up from the grass and the two came to a sudden realization that it wasn't Professor Oak, but a small, yellow rodent with electricity crackling from its cheeks as it eyed the two boys angrily.

Left with no other choice, all the boys could do was stand there, frozen in fear and shock as they were certain the small rodent could outrun the two of them. Careful not to make any sudden movements, Gary tried to slowly back away, but soon saw a spark of electricity fly straight toward him. Suddenly, a rogue, blue, pulsating orb of energy blew the electric shock away as a large, yellow Pokémon with oddly small wings landed in front of them. It roared loudly as it turned and smacked the rodent with a powerful whip of its tail into a nearby tree. A Poké Ball flew from behind the two boys and bounced off the rodent, enveloping it inside a red beam and pulling it inside. The ball fell to the ground and wiggled back and forth until it finally stopped. Ash and Gary could only stand there and look on in shock and confusion at both the large Pokémon that stood before them, seemingly to work in their favor, and the ball that now contained the electric rodent that was ready to shock them.

"You two know you shouldn't be out here by yourself." A man in a white lab coat sternly said as he went to retrieve the Poké Ball. "I'm thankful my Dragonite and I were in the right place at the right time. Now come on back to my laboratory with me and we'll get started."


	2. Delayed Beginning

To Become a Pokémon Master

Rockets in the Sky

Chapter 2

Delayed Beginning

The Dragonite touched down in front of Professor Oak's laboratory on top of the hill. After what felt like a vicious tongue lashing, the two children now knew to never go into the tall grass without a trusty Pokémon by their sides. And that was just what they were about to get. As the two boys eagerly hopped off the Dragon Pokémon and fought over who would get inside of the laboratory for first pick, the professor immediately put a stop to such immature acts.

"Now, that's enough you two!" Professor Oak yelled as his Dragonite picked the two up by the collars of their shirts. "If you two can't behave and show me you're deserving of Pokémon, then you'll leave here empty-handed. Are we clear?"

Ash and Gary both nodded, seeing that in order to obtain the Pokémon they so desperately wanted, they'd need to set aside their differences and act as mature as possible. For now. Ash could see that Gary already had a smile as fake as a Substitute on his face as he extended his hand out to him I an apparent show of friendship.

"Hey, I'm sorry, man. No hard feelings, right?"

Ash could see right through the permeable lies that Gary spat from his mouth of glistening teeth, but he knew if he didn't accept the handshake of fallacies, he would not be receiving a Pokémon today. So he swallowed his pride and faked a smile of his own. "No hard feelings, buddy."

Professor Oak smiled as it warmed his ehart to see two friends making up with one another and ushered the two inside of his laboratory. However, before they could get in, they were greeted by three researchers of very odd caliber. The one man, one woman, and one dwarf research team, while they couldn't explain it, rubbed them the wrong way. Their beady eyes showed no signs of having the intent to study anything, but rather a somewhat scheme-like, childish look.

"Oh, you must be the esteemed Professor Oak!" the male researcher exclaimed in an oddly feminine voice.

The female researcher bowed respectfully in front of the Pokémon Professor and dropped to her knees, almost groveling at his famous stature and worth. "Forgive our lack of contact with you, for we have traveled far and wide for the chance to study with you! Your esteemed findings in Pokémon are outstanding and we would like nothing better than to learn from the great Pokémon Professor himself!"

Professor Oak could only stand there in what appeared to be complete confusion. "Um... well this is very nice of you three. Please, have a seat in the living room while I set these two trainers up."

The three researchers nodded and quickly did as they were told without a single word uttered from either of them. Their odd disposition suddenly changed from scheming to extremely obedient, as if they were small children and their parents just yelled at them to perform a task.

Professor Oak meagerly shrugged the three people off, hoping to Arceus that he'd be able to conveniently forget about them while he and the two young boys walked into the main room and stood in front of a table. "Now then," he said as he took off his lab coat and hung it on the back of a nearby chair. "I'm sure you two know why you're here, but please, remind me again. I want to hear it from you two."

Ash and Gary looked at each other in befuddlement. Of course, there's the obvious answer, that they're there for Pokémon, but what if he expected a mature answer from them? The two retreated backwards slightly and huddled to each other in a frantic manner, trying to figure out what to say.

"Okay," Gary started. "Knowing my grandfather, just saying we're here for a Pokémon ain't gonna cut it. We gotta come up with somethin'."

Ash thought to himself and suddenly snapped his fingers as a glowing Magnemite appeared over his head, signaling he had an idea. "Oh hey! I've got it. What do you want to be when you grow up?"

Gary rubbed his hand underneath his chin in deep thought, which Ash found surprising because he had no clue Gary was capable of such a feat. "Well, I wanna be a Pokémon Master. What about you?"

Ash nodded his head in agreement with his rival. "I've wanted to become a Pokémon Master for a long time too. We could say that."

"Ahem!" Professor Oak loudly cleared his throat. "You know, I haven't got all day and neither do your Pokémon if you wish to have them."

Ash and Gary quickly rushed back to the Pokémon Professor and began making their claims. "We want to become Pokémon Masters!"

The Pokémon Professor's eyes slowly began to widen at such an outrageous, daring dream that the two children. "Well..." Professor Oak said, chuckling slightly. "It's certainly been a long time since I've had anyone say they want to become a Pokémon Master..."

"What's up, gramps?" Gary folded his arms. "Is there a problem?"

"Oh, not at all!" Professor Oak laughed nervously. "I'm more than thrilled you two want to become Pokémon Masters. But such a title to achieve will not come without agonizingly hard work. It takes more than just being a powerful trainer to become a Pokémon Master. There's all sorts of trials and tasks you must complete to prove yourself worthy."

"Aw, come on!" Ash turned his hat backwards and tightened his fists with determination. "We can handle anything you throw at us!"

Professor Oak turned his back to the two trainers and hung his head solemnly. "Many an aspiring Pokémon Trainer has come to me to ask to begin the Pokémon Master Examination. It starts as soon as your journey begins. But since then, many, if not all of them have given up entirely on it. I should warn you boys right now that, as I stated earlier, becoming a Pokémon Master is extremely hard work. While it isn't impossible... the number of Pokémon Masters today are few and far in between."

Ash and Gary looked at each other with worried expressions on their faces, possibly beginning to reconsider their previous statements of wanting to achieve such a greatness. "Well, what do we have to do?" the two children asked.

"First..." Professor Oak started as he took a single Poké Ball out of his pocket and placed it carefully on the table. "You two must receive your first Pokémon! Ash, I caught this one specifically for you."

"Really?" Ash's eyes glistened with excitement as he reached out to a little brown-colored fox that could be seen through the red, transparent top of the Poké Ball.

"What?!" Gary immediately exclaimed. "Gramps, come on! Why does he get to go first?"

Professor Oak ignored his spoiled boy of a grandson and turned his attention back to Ash. "I think you and this Pokémon will get along great together."

However, right as the young Ash Ketchum was about to receive his first-ever Pokémon, a hand placed itself on his side and delivered a hard push, sending him to the ground. Looking up, he saw Gary quickly snatch the Poké Ball from the table and sneer down at him. Ash immediately began to have flashbacks of that fateful moment when Gary had pushed him down a first time in their childhood with that same sneer. A horrible realization came to Ash that nothing about his rival had changed over the years. He was still the same, snarky, arrogant child all those years ago that stole something precious to him. And now he'd done it a second time.

"Gary Oak!" Professor Oak yelled. "What in the Distortion World is wrong with you?"

"Come on!" Gary whined childishly. "Yesterday you said I could have first pick. I'm just making sure you stick to your word, gramps. We wouldn't want Ash to think you're a liar, now would we?" the boy chuckled as he spun the Poké Ball around on his index finger.

Professor Oak let out an extremely annoyed sigh and helped Ash up to his feet. "Ash, I apologize for my grandson's behavior." He then reached into his pocket and took out a second Poké Ball. "I originally intended Gary to have this one as I was out searching for it anyway when I found you two, but you can have it now, since he stole your pick."

Ash graciously accepted the Poké Ball from the old man and much to his surprise, saw it was the same, yellow rodent that was caught earlier."Wow..." he smiled as he looked through the transparent top and saw the little Pokémon look back up at him. Unfortunately, it didn't seem nearly as excited as he was, but he didn't take notice of it.

Professor Oak stood and watched the two boys as they adored their Poké Balls as if they were two toddlers in a candy shop with their faces pressed against the glass. Except now, they could touch the candy. "Why don't you two call out your Pokémon?" he smiled.

The two boys looked at each other and gave their Poké Balls a toss in the air. Landing in Gary's arms was a small, brown-colored fox Pokémon that licked his cheek as he held it close. Over on Ash's shoulder landed the same, electrical rodent from earlier. The only difference, excluding from the obvious color, was that Ash's Pokémon neither gave him or lick or really even seemed happy to be there.

"Gary, what you hold in your arms is a Pokémon named Eevee, the Evolution Pokémon. It's quite a rare Pokémon. All Eevee posses an unstable genetic make-up that allow it to adapt to any harsh environment through evolution. And Ash, what is on your shoulder right now is a Pikachu, the Mouse Pokémon. Its electricity is stored in electrical sacs on both of its cheeks. Upon feeling threatened, it will let out electric shocks. It can also use its tail to check its surroundings by raising it up in the air. As result, its sometimes struck by lighting by doing that."

Gary took a look at his Eevee and smiled over at Ash, wasting no time to berate him. "Wow, Ash. Looks like my Eevee is more rare than your Pikachu!"

"Oh yeah? Well I bet my Pikachu is stronger! Isn't that right, buddy?" Ash raised his hand to pet his new Pokémon, but it swiftly delivered an electrical shock that brought him to the ground.

"Wow," Gary began to laugh at him. "It's so strong that not even you can control it!"

Suddenly, a young boy burst through the doors to the laboratory and walked angrily up to Professor Oak. He seemed to be a mess, his blue shirt was tattered and ripped, his jeans possessed many holes, and dirt covered most of the poor boy's body. In his hand was a Poké Ball that he slammed vigorously down on the table in front of the Pokémon Professor.

"Gilbert? What are you doing back here so soon? What happened?" Professor Oak asked.

"This Bulbasaur is what happened!" Gilbert exclaimed loudly. "It won't listen to me or do a single thing I say! I'm giving it back!"

Ash and Gary stopped their fighting and looked over at the messy young boy.

"I'm so sick and tired of it just laying around and doing nothing while I get my tail handed to me by wild Pokémon! I don't want it anymore- just take it back!" Gilbert spat profanities on the Poké Ball before being kindly asked to leave by Professor Oak.

"What happened?" Ash asked.

Professor Oak called the Bulbasaur out of its Poké Ball and let out a small sigh. "This Bulbasaur just doesn't seem to want to get along with its trainer... Many trainers have brought it back, complaining that it was very defiant and disobedient. Sometimes it would even run away, simply because it didn't like its trainer."

"Wait," Gary interrupted. "So there's been more than one trainer that brought it back?"

Professor Oak sadly nodded his head. "Yes, unfortunately. I'm sure Bulbasaur acts the way it does for a reason..." he said as he looked over at the Seed Pokémon playing with his Dragonite. "But for whatever reason it is, I just can't figure it out. It breaks my heart to see such a good Pokémon become unwanted."

Ash and Gary felt a sudden wave of sadness wash over both of them as their hearts began to break for the poor Pokémon.

"Hey, Ash..." Gary slowly turned over to his rival. "Your Pikachu... I'm sure it acts like that for a reason too."

Ash looked over at his Pikachu who stood off by its lonesome, not wanting to have any part in his new trainer's life. "You think so?"

Gary nodded. "Don't give up on it."

"I wasn't planning on it."

A loud roar suddenly shook the laboratory, followed by an explosion that sent smoke and debris all over the place. The smoke traveled down their lungs and made it hard to breathe, limiting their vision and the debris bounced off them as Professor Oak could just barely make out the shadow of a large Pokémon firing off terrible beams in all directions. "Is that my Dragonite?!"

Once the smoke cleared, the three saw it was indeed Professor Oak's Dragonite rampaging as if something horrible had happened to it. Its eyes were bloodshot red and its muscles were coursing with agitated, bulging veins as it continued to fire off beam after beam.

"Dragonite!" Professor Oak yelled. "What's gotten into you?!"

Ash narrowed his eyes on the large Dragon Pokémon and noticed an odd device strapped around its neck. "Look!" he pointed up. "There's something around Dragonite's neck!"

"That must be what's causing it to act like that." Gary tightened his fists.

Dragonite took off with tremendous force and began flying down toward the town in an uncontrollable rage. Ash ran to the door of the lab and called back to Gary "Come on, Gary! We've got to go help stop Dragonite!"

Pikachu, after witnessing the Draognite become taken over with anger, hopped on his trainer's shoulder and stuck with him. Bulbasaur, being a friend of the Dragonite, also joined the young boy as he and his rival ran down the hill into the town.

"Wait!" Professor Oak yelled down at them. "Come back, its dangerous!" but his words could no longer reach the boys as they disappeared from sight.

Dragonite began firing Hyper Beams and Dragon Pulses left and right, destroying cars and chipping off parts of buildings. It thrashed its body against hard objects wildly, seeming to be in no control of its body. Ash and Gary bravely trailed the Dragon Pokémon throughout the town, trying to talk to it and calm it down, but every attempt to get close to it resulted in them being blasted away with an attack.

Reporter helicopters began circling the town, reporting the ongoing incident to all news channels worldwide as an epidemic.

"This just in: Professor Oak's Dragonite seems to be going out of control!" A reporter spoke into the camera as it hovered over Pallet Town. "Not much is known as to why the Dragonite is out of control, but destruction of the city is said to be climbing an-"

Dragonite fired off a Hyper Beam that just barely missed the reporter helicopter, causing it to spin out of control for a few brief seconds.

"Look!" Gary pointed at Dragonite as it began flying up towards a cliff that overlooked the town. "Dragonite is heading up the cliff! Come on, Ash!"

Elsewhere in the world, a young girl with long, honey-colored hair, dressed in her pajamas, entered the living room and saw her mother glued to an exciting action movie on the television screen. "Oh wow, what movie is this?" she said as she plopped down on the couch and stretched her legs out.

"It isn't a move; this is live!" her mother exclaimed. "Remember when you went to Kanto for Professor Oak's Summer Camp? His Dragonite in Kanto is going out of control!"

The young girl sat up with widened eyes as she saw the destruction and chaos breaking out in Pallet Town. Reporters desperately tried to scramble to get a story out, but every time they would get to a point, Dragonite would fire an attack at them that caused them to stop. One of the cameras flashed to two boys who were valiantly climbing a cliff in order to reason with the Pokémon. It zoomed in and the girl's eyes narrowed on the two, feeling a strange sense of deja vu wash over her. "I feel like I know those two..." she thought to herself.

Back in Kanto, Ash and Gary scaled the cliffs with their Pokémon and came to the edge where Dragonite had managed to at least stand still, trying to claw the device off its neck.

"How are we gonna get that thing off?" Ash asked.

Gary tried to approach Dragonite, but the second he moved his foot, it let loose a Dragon Pulse that rocked the entire cliff as it shattered into it. "Agh, I don't know."

Electricity began to spark from Pikachu's cheeks, but Ash held it back. "I don't think it'd be a good idea to hurt Professor Oak's Dragonite, Pikachu." Pikachu heard his trainer and stopped the flow of electricity through his cheeks.

Dragonite suddenly began to stumble closer to the edge of the cliff. The raging waters that divided the bottom of the cliff from the town would be sure to swallow up Dragonite whole if it plunged down into them. Ash and Gary gasped, only being able to stand there. Approaching it would cause injury to both of them. Bulbasaur jumped off Ash's shoulder and expelled a sticky thread from its mouth that wrapped around Dragonite's feet and stuck it to the ground beneath it.

"Whoa," Ash exclaimed. "What was that?"

"String Shot." Gary smiled. "Bulbasaur saw that Dragonite was about to fall, so it used String Shot to stick it down to the ground. That's pretty smart!"

"Now how do we get that thing off?" Ash asked.

"Maybe we should try an attack. Not to Dragonite, but to the device on its neck! We just gotta aim carefully." Gary smiled. "Eevee, use Tackle on the device!"

Ash nodded and followed along with Gary. "Pikachu, use Quick Attack!

The two Pokémon combined their forces and rammed into the device on Dragonite's neck, shattering it into a million pieces. It could instantly be seen that Dragonite calmed down- its eyes turned back to normal and the raging veins that bulged on its body had dissipated.

"Hey, we did it!" Ash high-fived his rival.

"Now, let's get rid of that threa-"

Before Gary could finish, rocks underneath Pikachu gave way, sending it plummeting down to the raging waters beneath them. Ash screamed and recklessly jumped off the cliff, catching Pikachu in his arms. The only sight he saw before blacking out was the terrible waters quickly closing in as he slammed headfirst into the vicious river.


	3. New Friends

To Become a Pokémon Master

Rockets in the Sky

Chapter 3

New Friends

The crystal orange waters of a calm river reflected the afternoon sky and glowed vibrantly. Subtle breezes of wind traveled through the sky, bringing leaves along with it to a destination unknown, but all they wanted to do was move forward. The sun glistened a bright orange in the sky as it shined off the serene river, casting a reflection of a boy back at him. A river so still, so gentle, that it was able to cast the perfect reflection of him- from his silky, blonde hair neatly tucked underneath his straw hat with tiny strands falling over his bright, yellow eyes and his white face to the black, long-sleeved shirt he had on with a yellow vest covering it and black pants that led down to his purple, Converse sneakers.

The young boy let out a sigh as he wiggled the fishing rod he held carefully in his little hands, but still nothing bit. Over ten hours of the sounds of nature and the calm waters were all without so much as a little nibble. "I can't believe we haven't even had a little bite... I guess we're not gonna make any new friends today, huh?"

A Rattata was fast asleep beside him, having that luxury which made his friend jealous. But alas, he couldn't bring himself to wake his friend. He looked so peaceful and calm that it would be something close to a crime or a disgusting act of selfishness to wake the little Mouse Pokémon. Instead, he ran his tiny hand along the back of the Pokémon's soft, purple fur.

Suddenly, the boy's fishing line began to tug slightly. He turned his attention over to the line in the water and saw tiny bubbles rising to the surface. "Could it be?" an excited smile grew across the boy's face as he grabbed hold of the fishing line. A force from underneath the water pulled at him vigorously, hard enough to wake up his Rattata and hard enough to almost pull him in under. Whatever was on the other line was powerful. Rattata jumped up and helped his friend by tugging the line with all of his might. The combined efforts of the two friend allowed a very odd-looking fish to fly haphazardly out of the lake and onto the ground beside them. A closer look revealed that it was in fact not a fish or anything close to it, but a boy! And a Pikachu tucked tightly in his jacket.

Rattata sniffed the young, unmoving boy who lay there unconscious on the ground. A powerful Thunder Shock attack was delivered to him for approaching too closely. While shocking Rattata, it also shocked the boy back into consciousness. Gasping for air and taking heavy breaths, he coughed up what seemed to be an entire pond's worth of water. "Auck! Oh Arceus above!" he swore.

The young boy covered his mouth at the profanities the soaked boy said in front of him. "Those are bad words!"

The wet boy and his Pikachu both looked up into the glittering eyes of a much younger, innocent boy and gave him a soft, apologetic smile. "Thanks for saving us." he said as he laid back on the grass, taking in all the air he had to hold for being underwater so long. His Pikachu joined him by his side and the two watched the clouds go by. That is, until the much younger boy began to curiously ask questions. "Um... excuse me." he started nervously. "Who are you two?"

"I'm Ash," he said as he sat up slowly. "And this is my buddy Pikachu."

Pikachu turned his head away and sparked electricity from his cheeks upon hearing the word "buddy".

Ash let out a sigh and retracted his previous statement, replacing it with a happy, optimistic one. "Well, I guess we aren't really buddies yet, but we're working on it! Who are you?"

"I'm Riley," the boy smiled cheerfully as he sat down in front of Ash. A small, purple rodent jumped into his lap and made himself at home. "And this is my friend, Rattata. What happened to you two?"

"Well," Ash started as began to recite his wondrous tale that would change the young boy's life forever. "Me and my rival, Gary, had just gotten our Pokémon, my Pikachu, and were about to start our journey to become Pokémon Masters, but then Professor Oak's Dragonite went out of control. Someone put a control device around its neck and it looked like it was really being hurt. Me and Gary chased it all over Pallet Town until we got up on this really high cliff. If it weren't for Gary, then Pallet Town would be a wreck right now. He's the one that came up with the idea of attacking the device around Dragonite's neck and not Dragonite itself. We got the device off, but all the rampaging Dragonite did when we were doing it must have loosened up a few rocks, because Pikachu lost his footing and fell off. I jumped over after him and we both fell into the lake that divided the cliff from the town. And I guess we washed up here."

Riley could only sit there. His breath was taken away and his heart raced at every word the boy said. He could tell just by looking into his brown eyes that story was genuine and he was a good person. A large smile of glee and excitement overcame the boy's face as he could barely contain his energy. "That's so amazing! You're really awesome!"

"You think so?" Ash blushed slightly, flattered by the boy's remarks. He almost thought that in just a few seconds, he already had a fan that looked up to him.

"Yes! I do! Not many people would save a Pokémon they just got. But you full-on jumped over a cliff for it! That's so incredible!" Riley exclaimed excitedly.

It was at this point that Ash definitely knew he had a little fan. The boy's eyes were filled with excitement and adoration for him and it warmed his heart. However, the warm feeling didn't dry him as he let out a slight cough and began shivering a little, as did his Pikachu.

"Oh no," Riley gasped slightly. "You must be freezing! How long were you in the water for?"

Ash took a brief moment to contemplate the time he spent being whipped and thrown by the

vicious tides of the lake until he arrived in the calm waters that he was so graciously pulled out of. "I think it had to have been at least thirty minutes or something like that."

"I bet everyone's worried about you." Riley pointed out.

Ash screamed as he realized that news helicopters were swarming the scene and his mother, along with Professor Oak witnessed the whole thing. Not to mention Gary who saw him fall right before his own eyes. The young, still-soon-to-be trainer quickly shot up to his feet and scrambled to get a grip on his surroundings. "Where am I?"

"This is Route 1," Riley said as he stood up. "Don't worry, Pallet Town isn't too far from here. C'mon, let's go! I know a shortcut!"

**. . .**

After around an hour of fast-paced walking, Ash and Riley finally arrived at Professor Oak's Laboratory, where he and Gary were both eagerly awaiting his return.

"Ah, Ash!" Professor Oak smiled happily as he got out of chair from his worried slump. "It's wonderful that you made it back. I was afraid that something would happen to you."

Gary could only scoff and turn his head at his rival, remaining distant as always. However, when Ash walked past him into the main room of the lab, he decided that he could let out a small smile of relief to know that his rival was back safe and sound, even if was a little wet.

At least he thought no one was watching... an observant Riley caught the smile right as it left Gary's face.

"And who is this young fellow?" Professor Oak asked, turning towards Riley.

"Oh, this is Riley. He managed to fish me out of the river."

"Well, Riley, you have my utmost thank-you for saving Ash." Professor Oak thanked the young boy.

"You're welcome." Riley happily smiled.

"Now," Professor Oak said as he took a seat at the table. "Let's get down to business. To defeat the huns- I mean, begin your journeys."

"Wait," Ash interrupted the Pokémon Professor. "How's Dragonite?"

"Dragonite's fine, can we just hurry this up already?" Gary groaned.

Professor Oak let out a disappointed sigh at his grandson. "Dragonite is indeed fine. Thank you two for saving him. I can't tell you how much I appreciate it."

"What about Bulbasaur?" Ash inquired.

Professor Oak thought to himself briefly. "Come to think of it, I haven't seen Bulbasaur since he left with you, Ash."

Riley thought back to when he pulled Ash out of the water. There was, well, obviously, Ash, and a Pikachu, but no Bulbasaur. "I don't think I saw Bulbasaur with you when I pulled you out of the water."

"Oh, no matter." Professor Oak smiled. "I'm sure it will find its way back to the lab eventually. It always does, you know."

Ash breathed a sigh of relief.

"Now, do you two still have the same dream you shared with me earlier today?"

Ash and Gary nodded.

Professor Oak stood up and turned his back to them, staring out of the window at the auburn-colored sky. His head hung and the tone in his voice shifted to that of a low, dark one that signified importance. "I won't lie to you boys, the road to becoming a Pokémon Master is very long and tough one. However, I do believe that you two can achieve not only that, but greater things if you really set your minds to it. I noticed it when you two were in my summer camp as just little toddlers." Professor Oak turned around, revealing a soft smile as the orange light poured in the room from outside. "Now, are you two ready to officially begin your Mark of Mastery exam?"

Both Ash and Gary nodded again. Professor Oak reached into his pocket and placed a small, red box in front of each of the boys. He watched as they both picked it up and began fiddling around with it like a child that was just given a complicated math problem. "What you two hold in your hands is a Pokédex. Its a high tech encyclopedia that contains information about all 718 Pokémon in the world. While it not only does that, it also serves as an identification, a map, and a cellular device."

Both of the boys sat in amazement at what the fabled Pokédex could do. They could barely believe all of the functions it had, especially it being a cell phone. That completely blew their minds.

"Now, you two, your first task of your Mark of Mastery exam is to conquer all official Pokémon Gyms within the Kanto Region."

"Hah!" Gary laughed. "Eight gyms? C'mon, that's easy! Piece of cake!"

Professor Oak chuckled quietly to himself as he uttered words that once again, blew the minds of the two boys. "There are eighteen official Pokémon Gyms in Kanto. While only eight are required to enter the Kanto League, eighteen gyms are present within Kanto. Your first task of the Mark of Mastery exam is to earn a badge from every single one."

Gary was only able to sit there, frozen with shock and fear. Not eight, but _eighteen _gym leaders, each one stronger than the last, stood in his way of becoming a Pokémon Master.

Ash, however, was not as frozen and could still at least talk. "Wait, the Kanto League starts in a year, right? So we only have a year to earn all eighteen badges?"

Professor Oak slowly nodded. By the time he was finished, Gary was already out of the door and halfway down the hill. Ash watched as he left a trail of dust behind in his hurry. "It seems that Gary has the right idea." Professor Oak said. "You'd best get moving too, Ash."

Ash quickly flew up from his seat and started out of the doors, he was stopped by a surprising face- Bulbasaur. "Bulbasaur, you came back." he smiled. Bulbasaur nudged his Poké Ball over to Ash's feet. He slowly picked it up and looked back at Professor Oak. "Professor? What does this mean?"

Professor Oak looked down at Ash with a smile on his face as a warm feeling swelled up in his heart. "It looks like Bulbasaur chooses you as his trainer!"

Ash looked down at Bulbasaur with widened eyes and a racing heart. "Bulbasaur, you mean it?"

Bulbasaur jumped up and pressed the button on his Poké Ball, going inside of it and allowing himself to join Ash's team. As he began racing down the hill, he set his sights on Route 1, now with not one Pokémon, but two.

Professor Oak stood as he watched Ash rush down the path to glory and leaned against the doorway. "Ash and Gary, good luck on your adventure!"

As the young trainer blitzed down the road, a faint voice called out from behind him. "Hey, wait!" The voice sounded slightly familiar as Ash stopped and turned to see his first fan, Riley, desperately trying to catch up to him.

"Riley? What's up?"

Riley tried to catch his breath, but first had a pertinent question that needed asking. "May I come with you? On your adventure, I mean, if its alright with you, of course."

Ash smiled down at the young boy. "Of course you can! Come on, let's go on an adventure together!"

The childlike enthusiasm took over Riley again as he joined Ash's side and took the brave step out of their home and into the world of Pokémon, where their journey of excitement, wonder, and mysteries awaits them.

But what's this? It seems our hero has yet another admirer. A lone figure stood on the cliff that overlooked Pallet Town, watching Ash and a young boy take their steps out onto Route 1. "So... I've finally found him..." the figure said. Anger was present in the voice as it uttered a menacing title that made the person tighten their fists not only in aggravation, but fear. "The man that set the world ablaze... the Dark Lord!"

Oh? And this too? It seems that the girl who viewed the events of Pallet Town that fateful day has made a sudden decision. She put on her pink hat, dressed herself in a red skirt with a black top and black legwarmers. "I'm going to find you, Ash Ketchum!

"_Pallet Town, where shades of your journey await!"_


	4. Into The Wild

**AN: In case anyone was wondering, the Riley of this story is based off Yellow in the Pokémon Adventures manga. It's basically her counterpart, only with a change being that he's a boy instead of a girl, like Yellow.**

* * *

To Become a Pokémon master

Rockets in the Sky

Chapter 4

Into The Wild

The morning of the next day gave birth to always shining sun as it glistened its light down on the world, grass twinkling with the droplets of dew and Pokémon beginning their scurrying about for the day. Our heroes and their Pokémon briskly walked along the trail of Route 1, hoping to encounter wonders today that would enrich them.

But unfortunately, no such wondrous thing has happened yet.

"Ugh." Ash groaned as he slumped over, walking tiredly. "I'm so bored! Nothing's happening."

Riley looked at his idol oddly with a curious expression on his face. "What do you mean?"

"Where's the excitement?" Ash stopped and spread his arms out, looking at the world all around him. "Come on, I thought I'd see some cool stuff like wild Pokémon fight or something."

Right as our young hero said that, the coolest thing happened. Or at least it was cool to Riley as he tried to hide a little smirk of laughter behind an obviously faked surprised face. "Oh no!" he yelled.

A wild, purple, monkey-like Pokémon snatched the hat right off of Ash's head and scurried down the trail at a blazing speed, laughing all the while. "Ah!" Ash screamed as he immediately went chasing after the monkey. "Give me back my hat!" He pulled out his Pokédex and checked the information on the wild, mischievous Pokémon.

"_Aipom, the Long Tail Pokémon. They live atop trees. Their strong tail allows them to swing from branch to branch, hang upside down, and hold itself in the air while grabbing onto a tree branch."_

Riley and his Rattata followed close behind him, still trying to hold back the urge to laugh. The two young boys reached the base of a tree that the wild Pokémon quickly ran up. It sat atop one of the lowest branches, taunting him by dangling his hat just out of reach. Ash persistently tried to grab the hat and attempted to climb the tree numerous times, but each of them resulted in a failure.

The straw hat boy could only watch in slight bewilderment as Ash didn't budge from trying to get his hat back for a single second. "What's so important about that hat? Can't you just get a new one?"

"No way!" Ash yelled as he slipped and fell to the ground from another attempt of trying to climb the tree. "That's an official Pokémon League Expo hat! I sent in about a million post cards just to get it!"

"Why don't you battle it?"

Ash slid to the ground from another vain effort of trying to climb the tree and a light bulb instantly went off in his head. "I just got an idea! Why don't I battle it?"

"That's what I just saaaaaaid." Riley groaned with his Rattata.

"Pikachu, let's go, use Quick Attack!" Ash commanded.

But Pikachu wouldn't listen! He loafed around next Riley, lazily taking a nap in the hot sun as the wild Aipom busted a gut in rib-hurting laughter.

The trainer let out a sad sigh and hung his head in disappointment. "I guess we still need work..."

Suddenly, Bulbasaur voluntarily broke free from his Poké Ball and appeared, snarling up at the Aipom with such an anger that it made Aipom stop laughing and freeze completely still.

"Oh hey, Bulbasaur, you wanna battle?"

Bulbasaur looked back at his trainer and gave him a confident nod as he roared at the opponent in the tree.

"Alright, I choose you, Bulbasaur! Use Vine Whi-" but before Ash could finish calling out his command, Bulbasaur immediately began scaling up the tree and made an effort to full-on attack the Aipom his own way. The Long Tail Pokémon swiftly dodged the attack and smacked Bulbasaur to the ground with a powerful punch from its tail. Before slamming into the hard earth, Ash managed to catch his Pokémon, landing elbow-first into the ground and causing sharp needles of pain to sting through his entire arm. He looked down at his Pokémon with a confused and pained expression on his face. "Bulbasaur, how come you didn't listen to me?" he said as the Aipom escaped and Ash let out a sharp sigh.

"Hang on a second..." Riley said as he knelt down in front of the two and placed his hand on Bulbasaur's head. His eyes closed slowly and he took in a deep breath of air. "Just relax Bulbasaur. I need you to open yourself up to me. Can you do that?" Bulbasaur nodded and Riley's eyes opened, glowing yellow as vivid pictures filled his brain. Vivid pictures that told the story of Bulbasaur like an open book just waiting to be read. Ash could only sit and watched as his new friend's eyes glowed with a mysterious power and appeared to be in a heavy trance.

Picture after picture revealed the story of Bulbasaur- a Pokémon that truly wanted justice for all. The problem was never him, but the trainers he had. Whenever a someone, whether it be people or Pokémon, acted in an bad manner and the evildoer went unpunished, it tore him up inside, flinging arrows into his heart like a thousand natural shocks. After countless times of standing aside, Bulbasaur finally intervened. Whenever he did, the trainers would take it as an act of offense or disobedience, but never truly understood that it was only acting for justice.

As the images began fading from Riley's head, his eyes turned back to normal and his hand slowly fell from Bulbasaur down to the ground. He sat there for a brief second before giving Bulbasaur a great, big hug for his courage in doing what was right no matter what his previous trainers did.

"Riley?" Ash asked. "What just happened?"

"I saw into Bulbasaur's memories. He allowed me inside. Ash... Bulbasaur hates bad people and Pokémon."

"What do you mean?"

Riley took a deep breath and began explaining the visions he saw. "This Bulbasaur has seen injustice over and over again to the point where his heart was shattered. He finally said enough was enough and stood up for what he believed in and what was right- whether the trainer approved of its motives or not. More often, they didn't approve. That's why they kept bringing him back to Professor Oak's lab. For a very long time he felt unwanted and unneeded and that humans were all bad, until he saw how you saved your Pikachu back in Pallet. That's when he knew he had to go with you, because you're just like him."

Ash could only sit there, speechless. He could see in both Riley's and Bulbasaur's eyes that every word said was completely true. It wasn't even the fact that he doubted them, but the fact that the story was so moving it made involuntary tears well up in his eyes. His heart pounded with sadness for the little Pokémon and he knew he'd be hugging him a little tighter tonight.

But first, he had to get his hat back.

Ash suddenly stood up and turned his hat backwards. He looked down at Bulbasaur with the confident smirk of a Pokémon trainer and asked "Hey, Bulbasaur, you ready to go catch a bad Pokémon? Together?"

The Bulbasaur's eyes lit up like a Christmas Tree with happiness as he and his trainer, along with Riley, Rattata, and Ash's Pikachu, tagging along behind the valiant duo.

**. . .**

After quite a bit of running and searching of Route 1, Ash and Riley finally located the mischievous Aipom snoozing in a tree as if it didn't have a care in the world. But that was it's biggest mistake, for it did not know that it had the biggest care of all- a very upset ten-year-old's hat hanging carelessly off its tail. It was even within grabbing distance!

Ash quietly inched up on the sleeping Pokémon and reached his hand up. Never before had he had the feeling of being so close to his hat, mostly because he never had it stolen to have that feeling in the first place. Right as his fingers were about to feel sweet glory, one of the Aipom's eyes opened as it smacked Ash back and sprung off the tree, landing in front of them with a devilish grin on its face and discarding the hat in the tree.

"You'll pay for that!" Ash stood up as he looked over at his Pokémon for support. The look was received well as Bulbasaur stood, ready to take on the bad Aipom and retrieve not only the hat, but justice. "Do it, Bulbasaur, use Headbutt!"

Much to his trainer's oblige, Bulbasaur obeyed and slammed his head into the Long Tail Pokémon, sending it flying back, but it managed to land of its feet. The Aipom countered with a swift Scratch attack to Bulbasaur's face, confounding him with first speed, then pain.

"Wow," Ash thought to himself. "That Aipom is fast..." He suddenly saw Aipom closing in for what looked to be another Scratch attack, but he was shocked to see that it began... tickling Bulbasaur. It managed to quickly subdue Bulbasaur into laughter. The young trainer had no clue what to do as the Aipom kept tickling, but suddenly stopped and delivered a powerful Power-Up Punch into Bulbasaur, sending him flying back into a tree. "Ah! Bulbasaur!" he screamed.

Aipom was already closing in for another Power-Up Punch, but a quick, smart order from his trainer to dodge prompted Bulbasaur to soar into the air with an impressive jump, landing in back of the confounded Aipom.

"Bulbasaur, use Leech Seed!" Ash yelled.

Bulbasaur shot a seed from the bulb on its back that exploded in mid air, releasing vines that wrapped around Aipom and shocked it with energy-stealing power.

"Now, use Vine Whip!"

Vines extended from the back of the Seed Pokémon and whipped at Aipom multiple times until it fell over, fainting from the damage taken. Ash grabbed the brim of his cap and pulled it down back behind the back of his neck. With a quick toss of a Poké Ball and the words "Poké Ball, go!"

The ball bounced off Aipom, opened up, and trapped it inside as it fell to the ground and wiggled back and forth. Anticipation built inside of Ash, Riley, and Bulbasaur as they all stood still, waiting for something to happen. With a flash of blue stars from the button of the ball, it stopped shaking. The young trainer quickly rushed over and saw the Long Tail Pokémon sitting in the Poké Ball through the transparent top. With a huge smile on his face and his Bulbasaur cheering along with him, he held the ball up in the air and yelled "Alright! We caught an Aipom!"

"Bulbah! Bul-saaaaur!"

Ash called out the Long Tail Pokémon and she looked up at her new trainer with a shameful look on her face. She quickly scurried up the tree, retrieved the hat, and brought it back down to him, appearing to be extremely sad and apologetic for her actions. Her trainer accepted both the hat and the apology.

That would only happen in a perfect world...

Once Aipom returned the hat to her trainer, right as he was about ready to thank her, she unleashed a barrage of tickling everyone all over with a mischievous grin on her face. Come on, do you really think she would have just changed her ways that fast? Like I said, only in a perfect world.


	5. An Elite Meeting

To Become a Pokémon Master

Rockets in the Sky

Chapter 5

An Elite Meeting

The sky filled with dark, gray clouds covered the sun, giving a dull feeling to the world. Occasional strong winds would blow, enough to cause Riley to slightly lose his balance and the two trainers to have to hold onto their hats. This day proved to be difficult as the warm, kind sun that always filled the sky was not there today. Many wild Pokémon had already taken to their shelters underground or within trees to escape the storm that began brewing. Our heroes, however, had no such things to retreat to. Having to bear the wilderness, the two boys trudged through the strong winds, hoping to find a spot to avoid the oncoming storm.

Suddenly, the two boys happened upon a large, ragged mountain that seemed to appear out of nowhere.

"Look!" Ash yelled, pointing at a small entrance to the large mountain. "We can take shelter in there!"

Ash and Riley quickly saw their chances and dashed into the entrance. Right as they got in, safe and sound, a large lightning bolt struck the world that was followed by a loud crackling noise. Then the rain started to pour down like monsoon. The boys breathed a sigh of relief as they felt their dry clothes and sat down.

"So what do we do now?" Riley asked.

Ash looked around and shrugged his shoulders. "Beats me. I guess we just wait out this storm."

The sound of small footsteps slowly approached them. A figure came forth from the shadows of deeper in the cave and revealed itself to be an odd-looking rabbit with large ears and gray fur.

"Who's that Pokémon?" Ash asked as he pulled out his Pokédex.

"_Bunnelby, the Digging Pokémon. Its large ears act as shovels as it digs through the earth. Digging strengthens their ears, which is why they dig the whole night through. Its said that a _Bunnelby's_ ears can become so strong that they can split hardened roots instantly."_

"It looks sad..." Riley said. Upon a closer examination of the Digging Pokémon's face, it appeared to have bags of weariness under its eyes, was short of breath, and had a grimace of distraught on its face. The young boy knelt down to the frightened Pokémon and placed his hand out. Bunnelby eased toward the boy and allowed his heart to be opened up to him, sensing that he meant no harm.

Vivid images began flashing through Riley's mind wildly as his eyes glowed yellow and emanated a soft light. The ceiling of the cave, which was the last thing he saw, had been replaced with the picture of a rampaging monster of stone that ravaged the poor homes of many Pokémon that lived in the mountain, including the Bunnelby's. But the ruthless onslaught did not stop at the destruction of homes, as it progressed to hurting any Pokémon that stood in its way. Countless friends of the Bunnelby had been defeated without any mercy by the monster. As Riley took his hand away in shock, the last thing he heard that became burned in his head was the screeching noise of the monster.

"What did you see?" Ash asked. Riley uttered no response. He went to go place a hand on the boy's shoulder, but saw his fists suddenly clench together with rage as he stood up.

"There's a giant Pokémon rampaging throughout the mountain. Its destroying other Pokémon's homes and hurting them." Riley said as he hung his head in an anger he never thought he would have, usually being a calm and passive person. But something inside of him was ready to fight the Pokémon without hesitation.

Thankfully, hesitation came in the form of a large, buff man. His chiseled physique meant it to be socially acceptable for him to walk around shirtless, as he did not have one on upon stumbling onto the two children and a small, confused Pokémon. A black belt held up his white karate pants as he tightened it. "Ah, you two must be talking about the Onix." His voice was very deep, perfectly fitting someone of his stature.

The two boys turned around, frightened at first by the man's initial appearance of being more cut than Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson, but soon realized that he wasn't there to squeeze them into a pulp by the gentle expression on his face. "W- who are you?" they both asked him.

"I'm Bruno, of the Elite Four." he smiled. " I'm here investigating that Onix. It was very sharp of you to figure out that there was a Pokémon rampaging in the mountain. I'm impressed. Who are you two?"

Ash's eyes widened at the mention of the Elite Four. "You mean you're _the _Bruno?!" He ran up to the man and vigorously shook his hand with a grip so strong that even he couldn't shake the crazed boy loose. "This is so incredible! My name is Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town. I'm training to become a Pokémon Master! It's an honor to meet you! And that's Riley over there!"

Riley let out a sigh as he seemed to fade into the background, having visions of the Pokémon flashing repeatedly in his head. A horrible realization suddenly came to his mind that made him gasp out loud. "I know what's wrong with that Onix!"

Ash and Bruno turned to the boy with furrowed eyebrows. "You do?"

"Yeah!" Riley nodded. "In the vision I had, I saw a large spike sticking out of it. I know that Onix's body made up of rock, but it looked like there was a large spike sticking out of it somewhere that it didn't belong."

"Vision?" Bruno scratched his head. "You must be a Child of the Viridian Forest."

"What's that?" the two boys asked him, seeming to be completely lost.

Bruno sat down, sensing that he'd have a lot of explaining to do. The two boys took after him and also joined him on the cave floor as he began reciting every bit of information he knew. "Every few years, a child will be born either in or near the Viridian Forest. Few children who are born there and have been deemed to have a pure heart by nature have been said to receive the forests' blessing. The blessing can come in many forms, such as the ability to perfectly communicate with Pokémon or even being able to heal them. It looks like your friend over there can connect with Pokémon on a mental level and read their minds."

"Wait, really?" Ash said as he grabbed Pikachu off his shoulder. "Can you connect with Pikachu then? Maybe see why he won't listen to me?"

Riley reached his hand out to Ash's Pikachu, but upon getting close to it, he received a slight tingling sensation in his finger that made him wince and pull back quickly.

Bruno scratched underneath his chin as he observed the unwillingness of cooperation being displayed by the young trainer's Pikachu. "You can't force a connection with a Pokémon if they don't, on some level, want it in the first place. Sometimes it just may take a while."

Ash let out a depressed sigh as Pikachu retreated to the confines of Ash's backpack and began snoozing away without a care in the world. He suddenly stood up, masking his depression with determination. "Let's go find that Onix."

"I agree!" Bruno said as he quickly hopped up to his feet.

Riley turned to the Bunnelby and knelt down to it again. "Hey, Bunnelby, do you think you can take us to the last place you saw that Onix?"

Bunnelby nodded and began hopping down the cave with the three humans following it close behind. As they ran, they soon reached a large room filled with holes and crumbled boulders that once looked to be the homes of many Pokémon that lived there. Riley's head began to flood with visions from Bunnelby's head, seeing that it used to be an oasis with tons of happy Pokémon living in harmony, but now is just nothing but a room filled with holes. No other Pokémon even bothered to roam while the Onix was loose.

As Ash and Riley began to take a few steps forward, Bruno extended his large arm and stopped the two from walking any further. "No, its dangerous in here. I can feel that Onix moving around underground." He took a Poké Ball from his belt and maximized it. "Allow me!" the man said as he threw it and summoned a small, orange pig that breathed fire from its nose. Ash took out his Pokédex to examine it.

"_Tepig, the Fire Pig Pokémon. It can deftly dodge the moves of its foes whilst shooting fire balls from its nose. It loves to roast berries, but when it gets overexcited, it is known to burn them to a crisp."_

"A Fire type?" Riley tilted his head in confusion. "Aren't they weak against a Rock and Ground type like Onix?"

"Yep! But I trust in Tepig. I know he can do this." Bruno smiled. "Now, let's get that Onix out to play. Tepig, use Fire Pledge in the holes!"

Tepig roared and stomped on the ground, sending blazing columns of fire through the ground. Every last hole erupted with a large blast of fire. A sudden screeching sound began to pound Riley's eardrums with a sense of familiarity. He looked back and pointed out the large, Rock Snake Pokémon had been blasted out of the hole and was charging straight at them. "There it is!"

Bruno held his ground and narrowed his eyes on the large Pokémon, focusing on one section of its body in particular- the part with a large, jagged spike sticking out of it. "Tepig!" Bruno pointed at the large spike sticking out of the Onix as it quickly closed in. "Use Superpower to take out the spike in Onix's body!"

Tepig blazed flames from his nose as he charged with a valiant leap, soaring high above Onix and landing on its body. The Fire Pig Pokémon ran all down the Onix's body and began glowing with an orange power as it quickly pulled the large spike free from in between the rocks on Onix's body. The Rock Snake Pokémon stopped dead in its tracks right before colliding with Bruno who didn't budge a single bit where as Ash and Riley were already pretty much shaking in their shoes. Bruno reached his hand out and patted the Onix on its large face. "There, you see? All better now, aren't you?"

"Whoa..." Ash stood, dumbfounded by the awesomeness that had just taken place. "That was so cool! How'd you know Tepig was gonna be able to do it in time?"

Bruno high-fived his Tepig and looked over at Ash with a grand smile on his face. "I trusted in my Tepig's abilities. If trainers don't put trust in their Pokémon, they'll never be able to grow to their full potential."

"Putting trust in your Pokémon..." Ash thought to himself for a second and quickly grabbed a Poké Ball from his pocket. "Bruno, may we have a battle with you?"

"Well, sure. I don't see why not." Bruno said as he took a few paces back and Tepig took his place in front of his trainer, snorting embers and ready to battle.

Ash turned his hat backwards and called out his Pokémon. "Bulbasaur, I choose you!" As he threw his Poké Ball, Bulbasaur came out, but seemed a little uneasy, looking at the confident expression on Tepig's face and the embers blazing from his snout.

"Tepig, use Fire Pledge!" Bruno quickly commanded.

Tepig roared with a stomp to the ground, sending blazing columns of fire at his opponent that completely engulfed him in a fiery blaze, one-hit K.O.'ing him. And that was that.

"W- what?" Ash stood there in complete shock. He soon snapped out of it and ran over to his Bulbasaur's side. "Bulbasaur, are you okay?!"

Bruno knelt down to Ash and handed him a small, blue berry.

"What's that?" Ash asked as he accepted it.

Bruno smiled down at him. "It's an Oran Berry- it helps heal your Pokémon."

Ash fed the Oran Berry to his Bulbasaur and he instantly popped right back up, seeming to be bursting with enough energy to battle again. "Whoa, it worked!" Ash smiled.

Bruno stood up and scratched the underside of his chin again. "Ash, do you know about type advantages and disadvantages?" And just as he thought, the boy shook his head, having no idea what he was talking about. He couldn't help but chuckle to himself, but he sat the laughter aside and began explaining type match ups. "Each Pokémon has their own typing. Every type has an advantage and every type has a weakness. This goes the same for each move. For instance, a Pikachu's Thunder Shock would be super effective against a Pokémon like Pidgey because it was an Electric type move and Flying types are weak to moves of that type. Do you follow?"

Ash slowly nodded his head.

"Its important that a trainer learn advantages of disadvantages so they can grow stronger and increase their odds of wining." Suddenly, the large Onix decided it was grateful for what Bruno did and tried to give him a hug. Only, having no arms can be a little tough so it just rubbed its large head up against him. "While my Tepig is weak to Rock and Ground type attacks because it's a Fire type, it still managed to defeat Onix using a Fighting type move because Rock is weak against Fighting. Got it?"

Ash slowly nodded his head once again. "I never knew there were so many things to learn..."

"And that isn't even the tip of the Bergmite, kid." Bruno chuckled.

Wild Pokémon began slowly scurrying in one by one and reclaiming their various homes in the cave. Bruno, seeming very distracted from the kids, hopped on top of Onix. "Well, kids, I'm going to go help these Pokémon rebuild their homes. The storms around here don't last too long so it should be cleared up out there."

"Alright!" Ash and Riley smiled and waved up at Bruno as he rode away on the large Onix.

Suddenly, Bruno stopped and turned around, saying "Ash, I hope to see you again as you follow your dream! You too, Riley!"

After waving one last time to the Elite Four member, Ash and Riley turned around and began walking out of the cave to see that it indeed stopped raining. As they resumed their journey, Ash's mind was coursing with thoughts and ideas about types and their advantages and disadvantages over Pokémon. There was one thing to be sure of- Ash has a long way before he becomes an experienced Pokémon Trainer. But nothing could keep him from achieving his dreams.


	6. Electrifying Past

**DISCLAIMER: I do not nor will I ever condone or promote the use of violence or deadly force. I feel that you should not use violence to solve your problems as it will only make them worse (if not now, then much later). Avoid violence at all costs. If it is unavoidable, please seek help immediately, remove yourself from the situation, or only use what is necessary to defend yourself. In a school where a zero tolerance policy is applied, if two students were to get into a fight and both of them threw punches at each other, it wouldn't matter who threw the first punch, both would get suspended, which I feel is completely ridiculous. So please, don't use violence unless you have no other choice and only use it to protect yourself. This is just what I feel. Not telling you how to live your life.**

* * *

To Become a Pokémon Master

Rockets in the Sky

Chapter 6

Electrifying Past

Professor Oak stood, eyeing the young girl with a curious look about his face. "So why is it you decided to come to Kanto, Serena?"

Serena blushed slightly and put her hands behind her back. "Well, to be completely honest… I saw Ash and Gary on television when they saved your Dragonite. I knew I had to meet them again. That's why I'm here."

"Ah," Professor Oak smiled. "Awakening an old friendship. That sounds very good." He then reached in his pocket and presented a Poké Ball to her. "Well, you can't go alone. Professor Sycamore shipped this Pokémon over to me when he heard from your mother that you would be journeying to Kanto."

Serena peered at the Poké Ball and through the transparent top, saw a small, yellow fox with red fur coming out of its ears. "Oh wow, is that a Fennekin?"

The Pokémon Professor nodded as she accepted the Poké Ball from him. "Yes, it's a Fire type. Quite reliable with a nice trainer."

Serena put the Poké Ball in her pocket and bowed to the man, thanking him for the Pokémon before running out of the laboratory with her mind set on one thing: finding Ash and Gary.

**. . .**

Later that very same night, Ash and Riley had finally made it to the Viridian City Pokémon Center after a long day of walking under the broiling hot sun. The two were so happy to be out of it that they had at least four fans pointed at them to cool down.

"I never knew walking took so much energy…" Ash said as he kicked back his feet and relaxed on the couch.

Riley lies down next to him and let out a long, exhausted sigh, taking off his hat and fanning himself with it. "You and me both."

Ash looked over at the young boy's long, blonde hair and laughed to himself slightly. "Looks like you could use a haircut!"

"Excuse me," Riley immediately sat up to defend his long, flowing hair. "I happen to like how long my hair is."

"Well yeah, but you look like a girl."

"So?" Riley cocked his head.

"… But you're a boy." Ash said dryly.

"So?" Riley giggled. "I should be allowed to wear my hair any way I want, shouldn't I?"

"Well yeah, but-"

"There you go!" Riley interrupted, smiling and laying back on the couch.

"Um. Excuse me." A nearby voice said.

The two boys looked up to see a much taller boy standing before them, adorned in a black leather jacket, a black belt with a red buckle in the shape of a falcon to hold up his black jeans, a pair of black, high-top Nikes, and, you guessed it, a pair of black, fingerless gloves. The only thing not black about him was the red buckle, his tan skin tone and a golden bracelet on his wrist that was also in had the shape of a falcon on it. He appeared to be lean with little muscle, certainly enough to strong-arm his way out of a situation if needed be.

"Are you Ash Ketchum?" the boy asked him.

Ash stood up and looked up at the taller boy. "Yeah, I am. How'd you know my name?"

"My name's Victor. You're all over the news." The boy scoffed. "That stunt you pulled with your Pikachu was pretty intense. Look, I'm not good with words. I'd rather let my battling do the talking, so what do you say?"

"I say you're on!" Ash yelled excitedly.

Ash and Victor quickly rushed out to the small battlefield out behind the Pokémon Center and took their places, eyeing each other. What seemed to be calm eyes from Ash were burning with a fierce determination from inside while his opponent, appearing to be experienced, stood as if this were nothing to him.

"Hey, how's a one on one sound?" Victor called out.

"That's fine by me!" Ash replied.

Victor unsnapped a Poké Ball from his belt and maximized it in his hand. His calm eyes shifted to a strong determination and will that made Ash's legs tremble slightly. Albeit this was Ash's second trainer battle, he was still nowhere near as experienced as Victor appeared to be. "Let's go, Raijin!" he yelled. With a toss of his Poké Ball, a large, orange mouse with a lightning bolt-like tail came out. Behind it was a flurry of electric shocks that danced around the Pokémon as it roared mightily at Ash.

Ash took out his Pokédex and examined his opponent.

"_Raichu, the Mouse Pokémon. When its electricity builds, its muscles are stimulated, making it more aggressive than usual. It can let loose 100,000-volt bursts of electricity that are capable of downing foes twice its size in just one hit."_

"So that's the evolved form of Pikachu, huh?" Ash said as he looked on at the cold expression on both Raichu and Victor's faces. It struck him horribly with a large tremble to his knees that the two meant serious business. Not being able to back out now (not that he would anyway), Ash reached for Bulbasaur's Poké Ball from his belt when suddenly, Pikachu leapt from his shoulder and took his place on the battlefield. "Pikachu?" Ash said, bewildered that it actually wanted to battle. "You wanna take this one?"

Pikachu disregarded his trainer and let out a menacing growl before charging at his evolved opponent with a Quick Attack.

"Thunderbolt." Victor ordered.

Raichu let loose a powerful electrical blast that struck Pikachu and stopped him right in his tracks as he tried to endure the hit. However, the power proved to be too much and Pikachu went flying back toward his trainer.

"Pikachu, are you okay?!" Ash asked as his Pokémon slowly got up to its feet. "Good, now use Thu-"

But before Ash could even get his command out, Pikachu had already begun striking the Raichu with Thunder Shock after Thunder Shock. The larger Mouse Pokémon just stood there, not even being affected by the attacks. If anything, Pikachu was only making his opponent stronger.

"Thunderbolt." Victor ordered again.

Raichu put an end to his opponent's weak attacks by firing off a Thunderbolt that brought Pikachu to its knees in pain.

Ash ran over to Pikachu and helped it up. "Come on, Pikachu, you have to listen-"

But once again, Pikachu ignored orders and put all of his power into one final Quick Attack.

"Brick Break." Victor simply commanded.

As Pikachu closed in on his opponent and thought victory was for sure, Raichu disappeared and reappeared in front of it with absolutely amazing speed and slammed it into the ground with a devastating punch to the head.

"Pikachu!" Ash cried out as he rushed over to his defeated Pokémon and held him in his arms.

Victor returned his Raichu and let out a disgusted scoff before walking away back into the Pokémon Center, not even bidding so much as a goodbye to him.

Riley rushed over to Ash and knelt beside him. "Whoa…" he gasped quietly. "Pikachu looks really hurt."

"Yeah," Ash said, standing up. "We need to get him to Nurse Joy."

"Wait!" Riley called out as he tugged on the tail of Ash's coat. The trainer stopped and looked down at the boy, confused. Riley reached out and took Pikachu in his arms. He then closed his eyes as his hands began to glow yellow. Slowly, Pikachu's scrapes and wounds began to heal until the Mouse Pokémon was able to open his eyes and stand on its own.

Ash stood with his jaw to the ground in amazement. "You can heal Pokémon?!"

Riley nodded as he handed Pikachu back to his trainer. "Yep!" He suddenly fell to his knees as his breathing became staggered. The boy's heart began pounding against his chest like a Primeape trying to break free from a cage. "But… I can't do it all the time. It makes me really tired." He said, trying his hardest to breathe.

Ash helped him up and over to a nearby bench, placing him on it. After a while, he was able to catch his breath. "Are you okay?" Ash asked.

"I'm fine!" Riley smiled. "So what happened out there?"

Ash turned to the Pikachu in his arms with a worried expression on his face. "I- I don't know… Pikachu wouldn't listen to a single thing I said. It was like I wasn't even there."

Riley watched as Ash could only sit there with tears forming in his eyes. He knew something had to be done. The young boy slowly reached his hand out to Pikachu, but stopped midway. "Pikachu, I'm not going to hurt you. All I want to do is see inside your memories. I promise you won't feel a thing. Alright?"

Pikachu looked at Riley uneasily with small sparks flying from his cheeks. But once he saw the calm, gentle smile on Riley's face, the flow of electricity stopped and the sparks ceased. Riley placed one hand on Pikachu's head and took Ash's hand in the other.

"Just close your eyes and open you mind." Riley said.

Ash did as instructed and a grand scene exploded before his eyes. A wide open, green valley was in front of them. The vision seemed so real that he could feel the gentle breezes blowing through his hair and the grass beneath his feet. It was like a miracle, that they were in some far off land where only the wild Pokémon roamed.

The sounds of a scuffle were heard off in the distance. The vision took them to an intense scene where Ash's Pikachu was facing off against a wild Raichu with members of its evolutionary family surrounding them in a circle. Things were looking bleak for Pikachu, as part of its tail seemed to possess many bite marks and its paws were scraped up. It was as if Pikachu could barely stand up. This, however, didn't stop Raichu. It charged at Pikachu with full force, sending it flying through the air and out of the crowd. Pikachu struggled to get up to his feet, but it was too late. Raichu was already there, delivering multiple Mega Kicks to the poor Mouse Pokémon's stomach before spitting on it and abandoning it in the plains. Not just Raichu, though. It seemed the entire group no longer wanted anything to do with Ash's Pikachu as none of them even turned around when they all walked away. Besides, who would even want to look at a weak Pikachu like that anyway? To feel pity for such a pathetic Pokémon in that group was idiotic and unnecessary.

Another scene exploded before everyone's eyes. This time, it seemed to have transitioned to later that night after the horrible fight. Pikachu was still on the ground, unable to move. It laid there in so much pain that it couldn't even summon the strength to whimper anymore. Suddenly, a group of Magnemite and Magneton blew past the poor Pokémon in a hurry, not even turning a blind eye to it. Pikachu was sure that if not for the fact that they floated, he would have been trampled. At least it would have put an end to things, because what was to come was something infinitely worse than death. And it came in the form of a goon with a large net. The thug dressed in all black managed to scoop some of the Magnemite that had fallen behind along with an accidental Pikachu.

The vision then fast-forwarded to some sort of dark laboratory. Test tubes and beakers full of strange liquids surrounded a small table where Ash's Pikachu lay on the verge of death. A demon cloaked in white revealed himself from the shadows and stuck a large needle into Pikachu. The Mouse Pokémon screamed in pain and writhed on the table in pure agony as the plunger injected a strange liquid into the Pokémon's system. This horrible process continued for days on end in the vision. Each day brought another kind of pain. First it was the needle, and then a sharp object would slice against the matted fur of the Pokémon. Just days of torture and pure Hell until finally, the demon spoke five words, which were the first five words Pikachu had ever heard it speak. "It's useless! Throw it out!" Such an order was carried out by a long, red-haired she-witch and a bowl cut, blue-haired freak. The two callously dumped the poor Pokémon on Route 1 where it was left to die. But a savior appeared, resembling some sort of pink feline creature and touched Pikachu, instantly healing it.

After days of living on Route 1, it happened upon two humans. Never before had Pikachu been filled with such a rage upon seeing these sacks of flesh eye it like some sort of monster. As sparks flew from his cheeks, he found himself being forced into some kind of dark, cold object where he sat for hours until finally being released under the possession of one of the sacks of flesh that called itself Ash. Was Pikachu to accept this vile creature- this human as his partner? Before it decided to deliver a fatal shock, it saw how Ash proved himself to be unlike the demons that had tortured him so.

The vision faded, and the three were brought back to reality.

No words were able to come out of either of the boy's mouths. Nothing but silence washed over the night air. The boys couldn't do it. They just couldn't bring themselves to talk. Nor could they even look at Pikachu without wanting to just scream at the top of their lungs for how cruel and unfair of a life the poor thing has had.

Thankfully, the boys wouldn't have to talk about it right then. The Pokémon Center behind them went completely dark and collective screams rang out, followed by the cackling of what sounded like a witch and a freak. Ash and Riley hurried into the pitch black and found themselves lost within the darkness. Pikachu sent electricity to his tail and it began to glow, illuminating the Pokémon Center in a dim, yellow light. Riley held onto Ash's arm as to not get separated in the dark.

"Hurry, Jessie!" the freak yelled.

"I don't see you working!" the witch complained.

Ash and Riley stopped as they saw two figures by the door scrambling circular objects that appeared to be Poké Balls into a brown sack. All of those Pokémon obviously could not have belonged to them. "Hey!" Ash yelled. "What do you two think you're doing?!"

"Prepare for trouble!" the witch proclaimed.

"And make it double!" the freak proudly yelled as the two turned around to reveal their devilish faces to the boys. From there on out, the two began trading off lines back and forth.

"To protect the world from devastation!"

"To unite all peoples within our nation!"

"To denounce the evil of truth and love!"

"To extend our reach to the stars above!"

"Jessie!" the witch screamed her name.

"James!" the freak screamed his name.

"Team Rocket, blast off at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now, or prepare to fight!"

At the last moment, a small, Scratch Cat Pokémon appeared on the scene looking just as snarky as the two idiots that just went through what Ash and Riley thought to be one of the worst things they'd ever heard. "Meeeeowth, that's right!" it spoke.

"… That was horr-" right before Ash could finish his sentence, he took a second look of the twisted faces of the two crooks that stood before them. His eyes widened with the horrible realization that popped into his head. Looking to both Riley and Pikachu would have been stupid as he could feel them both shaking with utter fear, which meant it was clear to them too who they were. It was the two beasts that so negligently and brutally tossed out Ash's Pikachu.

In one swift movement, Ash handed his Pikachu off to Riley and delivered a solid left hook to James's face. The lowly grunt fell back against the wall, spitting a white object out of his mouth that appeared to be a tooth. His anger boiled so hot that his face turned red.

Jessie could only stand there in utter shock that a person, a mere boy, would have the gall to flat-out punch a Team Rocket operative in the face so effortlessly. She looked over and saw a crazy rage filling the boy's eyes. It was something far worse than a Primeape with Anger Point activated. Whatever it was, it definitely wasn't Ash anymore. Because it got on top of James and socked him left and right in the face over and over again. It took snapping out of being paralyzed with fear for Riley and Pikachu to run in and pull him off before he could deliver another blow.

"You monsters!" Ash yelled at the top of his lungs.

James slowly got up, resting his hand over his bruised jaw as blood trickled from his mouth. "You'll pay for that, kid!" He quickly unhinged a Poké Ball from his belt and gave it a toss, yelling "Koffing, use Tackle!"

A purple, spherical Pokémon with craters all over its body, exuding a putrid smelling gas came out of the Poké Ball and charged straight for Ash.

Pikachu suddenly jumped in front of the Pokémon and delivered a powerful Thunder Shock attack that sent the gaseous Pokémon flying back into the three crooks, knocking them on the ground.

Ash quickly called out his other two Pokémon with a burning rage filling him. "Bulbasaur, use Headbutt! Aipom, use Power-Up Punch! Pikachu, use Quick Attack!"

The three Pokémon combined their powers and delivered a powerful blow to the trio of Team Rocket member, sending them flying high into the night sky. Their last words "Looks like Team Rocket's blasting off again!" trailed off as they disappeared from sight.

The power to the Pokémon Center suddenly cut back on. Random trainers scurried over to the brown bag to retrieve their Pokémon, thanking Ash and Riley in the process.

Riley turned to the now calm Ash with an extremely worried expression on his face. "Ash…? Are you okay?"

"I don't want to talk about it." Ash said as he turned his back on the boy that idolized him so. "Let's just go to bed, okay?"

Riley watched as Ash slowly walked to the room they were assigned from Nurse Joy, still being able to feel the anger and the rage that filled him moments ago even though he appeared calm now. He was worried for his friend. And he had every right to be.


	7. Tickle

To Become a Pokémon Master

Rockets in the Sky

Chapter 7

Tickle

The new day, while bringing the joyful sun they loved, also brought an uneasy feeling over Riley as he and Ash entered a dense forest. Sounds of wild Pokémon buzzing and squeaking filled the air around them. Wild berries grew all over the trees and little Pokémon could be seen reaching their small arms out to pluck them, quickly pulling them away so as to not be seen by the two humans they walked along the narrow pathway. This was known as the Viridian Forest.

Typically, Riley would have been excited to see so many wild Pokémon in one place living peacefully, but something else was on his mind. The events of last night replayed in his head repeatedly, from Pikachu's horrible past to Ash lashing out against James of Team Rocket. He couldn't explain it, but every time he looked up at Ash, a certain fear made his little body quiver. The entire walk there had been in utter silence as he couldn't even try to budge himself to say a word until enough was enough. Riley reached up and placed a hand on the trainer's shoulder, both stopping him and turning him around to meet the young boy's face. "Ash… I think we need to talk…"

Ash furrowed his brow at the boy's words. "What's there to talk about?"

"You know…" Riley said, beating around the bush. It was obvious that both of them didn't want to talk about it. Out of his nervousness and clear reluctance to talk about it, he began to think that maybe what Ash did was warranted. People who abused Pokémon for any reason were bad people. Perhaps that man deserved what Ash gave him. He decided to let it go. "Uh. Never mind."

A small, green bug crawled from the brush and onto the pathway in front of them, simultaneously breaking the awkward tension between the two boys and making Riley squeal with delight at the sight of it.

"Hey, isn't that a Caterpie?" Ash said as he took out his Pokédex.

"_Caterpie, the Worm Pokémon. Its feet have suction cups that are designed to stick to any surface, which allow it to tenaciously climb to forage. For protection, it can release a horrible stench from the antennae on its head to drive away predators."_

However, by the time Ash put away his Pokédex, Riley had seemed to already befriended it, blowing his chances of capturing it. He let out a disdainful groan as the Caterpie happily crawled around Riley's body, tickling him into laughter. "Aw man, I wanted that Caterpie…"

"Caterpie is so cute!" Riley giggled as the two played around with each other on the ground. Although Ash was immediately disappointed that he lost his chance, he couldn't help but smile at the adorable boy having fun with the Worm Pokémon. Rattata crawled out from underneath Riley's straw hat and joined in the fun. Even Pikachu, the usually detached Pokémon decided to join in. It was probably the first time anyone had ever seen Pikachu smile. Perhaps the events from last night allowed Pikachu to trust them and open up, showing his happier side.

Their fun was soon interrupted, unfortunately, as a voice called out from behind them. "Excuse me, Ash?" a male voice said. The two turned around to see a boy around Ash's height standing behind them. He had spiky honey-colored hair with blonde, frosted highlights. Over his torso was a gray hoodie with a black skull on the right of it, a black pair of skinny jeans, and gray tennis shoes. While still wearing mostly dark colors, it was a much brighter sight than Victor's gloomy attire. Concordantly, this boy didn't seem nearly as cold as he was either, having a smile on his face as he looked at them. "You're Ash Ketchum, right?"

Ash slowly nodded his head.

"Wow…" the boy said, looking to be completely star struck. "This is just incredible." He said again, this time shaking Ash's hand as if he were some famous star.

"Do I know you?" Ash asked.

"Oh!" the boy nervously jumped back. "Please, forgive me for my forwardness." He apologized with a boy. "I am Rhys, a Pokémon Trainer also from Pallet Town. I recently saw you on the news and was in the Viridian Pokémon Center when you saved everyone's Pokémon. I must say, you sure did give those crooks a mean one-two. You have my gratitude for saving everyone."

"Oh wow…" Ash said, blushing slightly at the Rhys's words of adornment. "Well, thank you!"

"You are most welcome." Rhys smiled. "I was curious if you would like to have a battle with me and my Pokémon? I feel it would be a most joyous experience to have a match with you."

"Sure!" Ash said as the two took their places facing each other on the pathway. "Come on, Pikachu, let's do this!"

Pikachu happily jumped and took his place on the field in front of Ash, sparking electricity from his cheeks and actually excited to battle for a change. Riley smiled, sensing that things must be well with those two now.

"Ah, your Pikachu. Then for my Pokémon, I shall choose my partner. Go, Mienfoo!" Rhys yelled, tossing his Poké Ball. A small, karate Pokémon appeared on the scene, taking a fighting stance and looking steadily at Pikachu and Ash.

"Alright, who's that Pokémon?" Ash said as it became Pokédex time.

"_Mienfoo, the Martial Arts Pokémon. They take much pride in speed that they can use their moves. In fights, they dominate with onslaughts of flowing, continuous attacks. They also possess sharp claws in which they cut enemies with. What it lacks in power, it makes up in quantity."_

"Wow," Ash smiled as he closed his Pokédex and put it away. "Mienfoo sounds powerful, but no worries! Pikachu and I have got this!"

"I take it that you two will be having the first move?" Rhys questioned.

"If that's alright with you!"

"Come at us then!"

"Pikachu, use Quick Attack!" Ash yelled.

Pikachu dashed from side to side, slamming his body into the Martial Arts Pokémon with full force. Mienfoo flew back, but quickly got up and brushed the dirt off it.

"What a fast Quick Attack… Mienfoo, use Dual Chop!" Rhys retaliated.

Mienfoo rushed Pikachu and delivered a brutal chop to Pikachu's chest, then wrapped around the back of it and chopped the back of his neck, effectively knocking the Mouse Pokémon out in one hit.

"Not again…" Ash sighed sadly as he ran over to his Pikachu and held him in his arms. "Hey, buddy, are you okay?"

Pikachu smiled weakly up at Ash. Two simple chops did the poor thing in, which allowed them to conclude that Rhys must have been another experienced trainer.

Rhys held his hand out, offering to help Ash up. The trainer took the winner's hand and was pulled up to his feet. "That was a good battle." He smiled. "But your Pikachu looks badly hurt. Please, follow me. I know of a town close by here that has a Pokémon Center."

**. . .**

After a few minutes of following the kind boy, Ash and Riley were lead to a small, peaceful town. It didn't appear to have a lot of buildings, nor did it have a lot of people, but it did have a Pokémon Center just as Rhys said it would. This small town was called Terracotta Town.

Inside the Pokémon Center, Ash, Riley, and Rhys stood at the counter, eagerly waiting for Nurse Joy to return with Pikachu. In the meantime, they decided to have a little chat.

"I do deeply apologize for the damage I caused to Pikachu," Rhys said with a bow. "I had not known we were that strong."

"Its alright," Ash smiled back at him. "That's how Pokémon battles go. It'd be a little impossible for one of them not to get hurt."

"Excuse me, Ash?" Nurse Joy kindly said, wheeling a gurney with Pikachu on it. "Your Pikachu is all healed up and ready to go!"

Pikachu jumped back on his trainer's shoulder and nuzzled his cheeks against his face.

"So what brings you three to Terracotta Town?" Nurse Joy asked.

Ash and Riley looked at each other with confused expressions on their faces. "We don't know, actually. I had to get my Pikachu healed but other than that, there's really no other reason."

Nurse Joy thought to herself for a few seconds. "Well, if either of you are trainers, there's a Pokémon Gym in this town that you could challenge."

"Really?!" Ash eyes began to glisten with excitement as he quickly burst out of the doors. The trainer ran all around town trying to find the gym, leaving Riley and Rhys in the dust.

"My word, he doesn't even know what type of Pokémon the Gym Leader specializes in. Does he always rush off like that?" Rhys asked with a surprised look on his face, completely baffled by Ash's rushing out of the center.

Riley let out a long sigh and grabbed Rhys by the arm, running out of the center and trying to locate Ash. "Yeah, welcome to my world."

Ash swung open the doors to a small stadium with a concrete floor and rudely proclaimed "Hello, Gym Leader! My name is Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town and I challenge you to a battle!"

A girl sitting on the other end of the stadium stood up with her long, black hair flowing in back of her. She placed both of her hands on her hips and glared at the ill-mannered boy at the entrance. "Excuse me!" the girl yelled out at him. "Where are your manners?! How dare you come in here unannounced!"

Ash tilted his head in confusion. "Was I supposed to call first?"

The girl smacked her head in agonizing annoyance and approached him. "No, but surely knocking would have been much nicer than swinging open my doors. My name's Annabelle and I run this Gym. I specialize in normal types. I sure do hope your battling skills are better than your mouth…"

"We'll show you!" Ash smirked as the two took their places on the battlefield.

Riley and Rhys rushed in to see the battle getting ready to begin. "Thank goodness we didn't miss it." Riley said. The two boys sat on the edge, spectating the battle that was about to take place.

"A one on one battle!" Annabelle yelled as she threw her Poké Ball. "Go, Teddiursa!"

A small, brown cub jumped out of the Poké Ball and took its place on the battlefield, innocently sucking on its paws and looked at Ash and Pikachu with big, cute eyes.

"_Teddiursa, the Little Bear Pokémon. If it finds honey, the crescent mark on its head glows. It always licks its paws because they're soaked in honey. Once food becomes scarce in the wintertime, it begins to habitually hoard food in many locations."_

Pikachu was ready to take his place on the battlefield, but Ash suddenly held him back. "Hold on there, Pikachu. We should try doing a type advantage over Teddiursa. That's why…" Ash disconnected a Poké Ball from his belt and tossed it in the air. "I choose you, Aipom!"

Aipom broke free from the Poké Ball and took her place on the battlefield with a mischievous glare. She suddenly made a beeline back to her trainer and tickled him into laughter before he shoved her off and placed her back on the battlefield.

"So Ash is going with an Aipom?" Rhys questioned.

Riley nodded. "Yeah, she knows Power-Up Punch, so she'll have an advantage."

"I do hope Ash knows what he's gotten himself into, having rushed in here so carelessly…" Rhy sat back and folded his arms.

"You can have the first move, Ash." Annabelle announced.

"Perfect! Aipom, use Power-Up Punch!" Ash ordered.

Aipom sped down the field with her long tail ready to throw a powerful punch at her foe.

"Teddiursa, use Protect!" Annabelle quickly countered.

The crescent on Teddiursa's head glowed as he threw up a green, protective barrier around himself. Aipom smashed her tail against the barrier with a Power-Up Punch, but the attack did not even so much as a scratch to it.

"Now, show them your Power-Up Punch!" Annabelle smirked.

"What?!" Ash's eyes widened.

"Teddiursa knows Power-Up Punch too?!" Riley and Rhys gasped.

The Little Bear Pokémon tightened his fist and delivered a hard blow to Aipom in the face, sending her flying across the battlefield and back to her trainer's side. She struggled to get up, having taken a super effective move right to the face. But nonetheless, Aipom stood up and got back on the field, ready to continue.

"Aipom, let's try Power-Up Punch again!" Ash yelled.

Aipom closed in on her opponent again with her tail ready to smash into Teddiursa.

"Dodge and use Metal Claw!"

Teddiursa nimbly ducked to avoid Aipom's punch and racked her stomach with a powerful claw as tough and sharp as metal, which sent her flying through the air and back to her trainer's side again. Things began to look bleak for Ash and Aipom as Teddirusa's attack had managed to increase not only once, but twice, the first time being from Power-Up Punch and the second time from Metal Claw.

Ash gritted his teeth in frustration as he knew he hadn't landed a single attack on his opponent. He suddenly began to think back to his first battle against the Long Tail Pokémon with Bulbasaur and earlier before the gym battle started and an idea sparked in his head. "Aipom, get close to Teddiursa!"

Aipom began to close in on Teddiursa once again.

"Again?!" Annabelle gasped. "Trying the same thing over and over again and expecting different results is insanity! Teddiursa, end this with Power-Up Punch!"

As Aipom rushed toward Teddiura, Ash watched as the Little Bear Pokémon's paw tightened up to throw the punch. "That's it! Aipom, wrap the back and use Tickle!"

"What?!" everyone gasped.

Aipom suddenly changed direction and blitzed around Teddiursa and began tickling him into laughter, lowering both his attack and defense.

"Teddiursa, snap out of it! Push that Aipom off!" Annabelle yelled.

But it was no use, Teddiursa couldn't even hear his trainer over his loud, uncontrollable laughter as Aipom continued the merciless onslaught of tickling him.

"Now, use Power-Up Punch!" Ash screamed.

Aipom tightened the fist on her tail and smacked Teddiursa in the stomach with it, sending him flying high into the air and smacking back into the ground, defeated in just one hit due to the lowered defenses.

Riley was nearly speechless. "Did he just…?"

"I can't believe my eyes…" Rhys said, rubbing his eyes in an effort to change what he just witnessed, but it was no use. Ash had indeed won his first Gym Battle.

Annabelle returned her Pokémon and let out a sigh. "Thank you, Teddiursa. You did great."

Ash ran over to Aipom and picked her up in celebration. "Aipom, we did it!"

"Well, congratulations." Annabelle smiled. "Looks like your battling is better than your manners. You deserve this- the Simple Badge." She said as she handed Ash the badge and a small CD.

"What's this?" he asked, looking curiously at the CD.

"That's a move called Return. It increases in power the more the Pokémon likes the trainer. Too bad Teddiursa and I didn't get to use it."

"Wow, thanks!" Ash smiled.

"Just one piece of advice though…" Annabelle started. "Not every Gym Leader is as easy as me. I hear the one in Pewter City is extremely tough. So best of luck to you!"

Ash and Riley departed from the gym and out into the afternoon sun with a huge smile on Ash's face, ready to go after the next Gym Leader.

"Um.. Excuse me?" Rhys called out to them. "Might I accompany you two on your travels? I feel as if… I would have fun."

"Sure, come on!" Ash smiled happily. With that, the three were off into the world ready to have new adventures.


	8. Giving Chase

To Become a Pokémon Master

Rockets in the Sky

Chapter 8

Giving Chase

Far off in the uncharted territory of Kanto, an evil took form. A place so dark that not even the brightest of Flash attacks could light it. A wasteland where the water flows so black with the putrid stench of hate that not even a Magikarp or Corphish would dare swim in its waters. A land so spoiled with disgusting corruption that not an Eevee or Rattata could adapt. No plants grew and no winds blew. Just the silence of the desolate land with the scummiest criminals plotted their moves. Welcome to the Team Rocket Main Headquarters.

"What smells of defeat?" a voice angrily said, having turned around in his big, black chair so as to not see the disappointing sight that he knew was right behind him. Looking at the two failed operatives was so disgusting it made him gag,

"Jessie and James reporting back from duty, sir!" Jessie stated with a gracious salute.

"You dare return without having stolen a single Pokémon?" the voice growled.

"Sir, if we could just have a moment of your time," Jessie pleaded. "We think you'll find something worth value on James's face."

The chair turned around and immediately gagged in disgust of the awful sight before it- two completely useless failures and one with a busted face. "Why on earth would I find James's punched in face useful?"

"He was punched by… _him."_

Silence fell over the room as the person of the voice could only sit there, looking carefully at the freak of a failure standing in front of him. A small, demonic smile began to take shape on the person's face as they uttered the word "Perfect…" in a deep growl.

**. . .**

"Ash!" Riley said excitedly as he pointed down at the trainer's hand.

Ash looked at his hand and saw blood dripping from each knuckle, soaking through his gloves. "Ah!" he screamed. "How did that happen?!"

"It must have been from when you punched James in the face."

"Oh dear…" Rhys said quietly. "We need to get bandages on that straight away. Do either of you have any?" Both of the boys shook their heads and he turned his attention to Riley's straw hat. "Riley, do you by any chance still have your Caterpie friend?"

Riley nodded as the small Worm Pokémon peered out from underneath the boy's straw hat.

"We need Caterpie's thread so I can tie it around Ash's hand."

"Caterpie, use String Shot." Riley ordered.

Caterpie began spinning a soft thread into Rhys's hand which he then used to wrap around Ash's knuckles, but not after removing his gloves first. As the kind boy finished wrapping the trainer's hands, Ash thanked him. Rhys simply smiled at him and stepped away when he was finished, allowing him to put his gloves back on. "That should slow the bleeding. I say, you must have socked James in the face quite hard to cause so much damage to your knuckles."

"Not one of my proudest moments…" Ash said with a small sigh. "But at least we could save the Pokémon. That's all that matters."

Suddenly, a small, orange mouse appearing to be similar to Pikachu ran out on the path in front of them. Electricity sparked from the antennae on its cheeks as it surveyed the area for food. Ash took out his Pokédex and pointed it at the small Pikachu look-a-like.

"_Dedenne, the Antenna Pokémon. Its whiskers serve as antennas. By sending and receiving electrical signals, this Pokémon can communicate with others far away. It can also use its tail to absorb power from electrical outlets and fire it from its whiskers."_

"Oh. My. Arceus." Riley giggled with glee. "I want that Dedenne!" he screamed as he began to give chase after the poor Antenna Pokémon. Dedenne turned tail and bolted down the pathway with Riley close behind it, screaming "Wait up! All I wanna do is be your friend!"

Ash and Rhys did the best they could to keep with the two but Riley proved to be faster than usual as Dedenne also proved to be quite a force to reckon with when it came to his speed.

"My word!" Rhys cried as he panted, trying to keep up with Ash. "Is there always this much running with you two?"

"Never usually this much!" Ash panted heavily, beginning to fail with keeping up.

Riley came to screeching halt and held his position quite firmly. This took the two boys behind by surprise and they almost ran into him, but thankfully stopped just in time. Surprisingly, Dedenne was right in front of Riley and he wasn't even budging an inch to capture it.

"What are you doing?" Ash asked. "Hurry and capture Dede-"

Riley quickly shushed Ash and pointed up to the trees that blocked out the sky. Small, blue, pinecone-like Pokémon were stuck firmly on the branches above them, appearing to be in a deep slumber.

"_Pineco, the Bagworm Pokémon. It looks just like a pinecone. They like to make their shells thicker by adding tree bark to it. The additional weight doesn't bother it as making its shell tougher protects it from bird Pokémon that happen to peck it by mistake."_

"I don't get it, why are we-"

"Sh!" Riley angrily whispered. "Pineco have a habit of falling and exploding whenever someone passes by…"

Ash and Rhys began to shake in their tennis shoes as there were Pineco hanging above them as far as they could see. Getting past them would be virtually impossible as no one could ever brave the trail long enough without making enough sound to alert at least one.

"Maybe…" Ash began thinking. "Maybe if we back up slowly and attack from a distance, they can just fall and explode and we can get through!"

"You know, the plan just might work…" Rhys contemplated.

The three children and Dedenne began moving back quietly as to not wake one of them. Once they were at a safe enough distance, Ash and Rhys prepared themselves.

"Ready, Pikachu?"

"Take your place, Mienfoo."

The two Pokémon stood; ready to launch a far-distance attack at the Bagworm Pokémon.

"Pikachu, use Thunder Shock!"

"Mienfoo, use Focus Blast!"

Pikachu let loose an electric shock from his cheeks while Mienfoo concentrated his power into an outward force between his paws in the form of an orb of energy and fired it along with the electrical attack.

At the last second an Oran Berry curiously fell off a nearby tree and rolled into the grove where the Pineco hung.

"Dedenne!" the three boys screamed as they ran in after it. The attacks hit the Pineco above them and one by one, they began to drop, letting loose powerful explosions. The boys dashed for their lives while Dedenne was having the time of his life with explosion after explosion catching up with them.

"There's the end!" Ash screamed as the two made a dive for it, breaking free from the grove of Pineco and seeing the bright, blue sky above them. A final explosion rang out behind them before Riley pointed at a large tree in front of them. They looked up and saw small, yellow cocoons hanging by threads from the branches. The tree appeared to be full of them. One of the cocoon's dark eyes shifted over to them and a crack in its shell appeared, giving birth to large bee-like Pokémon with two powerful stingers as hands and one, large stinger on its rump.

"Oh no…" Riley said quietly.

"Don't worry, it's just one!" Ash said as he stood up. "Pikachu, use Thunder Shock!"

Pikachu fired an electrical shock that struck the Beedrill and caused it to scream, which caused every cocoon in the tree to crack and give birth to more of the large, bee Pokémon.

"Now should we worry?!" Riley screamed, looking at Ash.

"Please!" Ash yelled as the boys along with Dedenne began to make a run for it. The swarm of Beedrill chased after them, angered to the point where they wouldn't give up.

Rhys quickly turned around and called out "Mienfoo, use Acrobatics!"

Mienfoo's paws began to glow a bright blue as it moved with the speed of a jet plane, carefully striking every single one of the Poison Bee Pokémon with a super effective blow. The Martial Arts Pokémon neared the end of the swarm and the Beedrill flew away, the vast majority in defeat and the rest intimidated by Mienfoo's power.

Unfortunately, yet another crisis awaited them as they found themselves in a dark, odd formation of trees. Red eyes glared at them from the shadows with low hissing sounds piercing the air. A lone Spinarak crawled out of the darkness which allowed the three boys and Dedenne to breathe a sigh of relief as they thought it was the only one. But suddenly, more and more Spinarak showed themselves from the dark, along with its final evolution, Ariados. Their eyes glowed a bright red with anger as they lunged at them in all directions.

Rhys quickly surveyed the situation, seeing it was too spread out for Mienfoo to use Acrobatics before they would get attacked. Thinking on his feet, the experienced trainer called for an attack perfect for the situation. "Mienfoo, Stone Edge!"

Mienfoo roared and sent sharp edged stones flying in all directions, quickly dispatching the Ariados and Spinarak in just one hit. The three boys and Dedenne saw this as an ample opportunity to escape and they high-tailed it out of there.

Finally seeing that they were in the clear, the group stopped and rested, everyone panting heavily.

"That was horrible…" Ash panted, falling to the ground with Pikachu relaxing on his shoulder.

"Let's never do that again…" Riley said as he fell next to Ash and leaned on him. "I don't think I can even move…"

"Agreed…" Rhys said as he too took to sitting on the ground, returning his exhausted Mienfoo back to his Poké Ball for a well-deserved rest.

The wild Dedenne couldn't find the energy to run anymore and joined the three humans in relaxing on the ground.

Everyone let out a collective sigh as a shadow casted over them, blocking out of the hot sun and allowing them to get some shade. But they soon quickly realized that it wasn't clouds that were casting the shadow, but a large bear-like Pokémon that appeared to be extremely angry. Wasting no time, it smashed both of its arms into the ground with a powerful Hammer Arm attack, sending everyone flying back into a tree. Ash and Rhys flew head first into the tree, causing them to go unconscious, while Riley hit the tree with his back first, sending a painful tingling up through his spine and all throughout his body. Rattata and Caterpie flew from underneath the straw hat as it flew off the young boy's head and also hit the tree.

Riley crawled over to Ash and Rhys, shaking them vigorously to try and wake them up, but no response came from the two of them. Even Pikachu was knocked out cold. As the wild Ursaring slowly closed in on the group, Riley desperately detached the Poké Balls from Ash's belt and tried summoning his Pokémon, but the buttons on the balls were smashed, rendering it impossible for them to be called out. The young boy cried in horror as he was left all alone to face the terrible Ursaring that was just inches away from them.

The Ursaring roared and picked up the wild Dedenne, thwacking it into the ground with a powerful Hammer Arm attack, knocking it out cold.

The tears from Riley's eyes instantly stopped flowing as something snapped within the young boy's head. Never had Riley been much of a fighter. In fact, he would do everything possible to avoid fighting at all costs. But something changed when he saw the poor, defenseless Dedenne being thrown around like a small chew toy. An intense anger surged through him. His breathing became heavy as he screamed, the raw power rushing through his body like an out-of-control freight train. Rattata and Caterpie developed a yellow glow around them and they too began roaring with such a might that it made Ursaring stop in its tracks.

"Caterpie, use Bug Bite!" Riley screamed angrily.

Riley's Caterpie sprung forward and delivered a powerful, skin-breaking bite to Ursaring which made it cry loudly in horrible pain, unable to shake the Worm Pokémon loose. Caterpie held on for dear life, biting the Ursaring over and over again viciously.

Ash and Rhys's eyes slowly began opening to the sound of Riley ordering his Rattata to use Quick Attack.

Rattata slammed into the fully-grown Ursaring with all its power, managing to knock the large Pokémon off its feet and to the ground. The two Pokémon returned to their friend's side. Dedenne quickly woke up and stepped in front of Riley, taking its place on the battlefield, ready to help defend the trainer that defended it. It also was soon filled with the same anger and rage that Riley felt and could feel its power sky-rocketing to unbelievable heights.

"Now, Dedenne, finish off that Ursaring with Play Rough!"

Dedenne's eyes glowed pink as it began smacking around the Hibernator Pokémon as if it were nothing but a small pebble. Punch after kick after tail slap were delivered to Ursaring in harsh blows. A final sock to the face with the Antenna Pokémon's small paw sent it flying through the air, never to be heard from again.

Ash and Rhys could only sit there in pure awe at the spectacle that just took place before them. Never before had Ash or Rhys, in the little time he knew him, thought that boy as nice and gentle as he was would ever be capable of such a rage that it scared the two to their cores. But their fears were soon set aside when both Riley and his Pokémon friends collapsed to the ground, breathing heavily.

Ash took Riley into his arms while Rhys took Rattata, Caterpie, and Dedenne into his. The two boys saw a city that appeared to be Pewter City off in the distance. However far away it seemed, Ash and Rhys began running with all their might, despite the blows to the head they previously suffered, keeping Riley and his Pokémon friends tucked under their arms, away from further harm.

* * *

**AN: To those of you wondering about the love traingle that will appear later in the story... sadly, I cannot reveal any names, nor give any hints as I don't even know who's involved yet. Honestly, I've been making this story up as I go along and I'm very surprised with how its turning out. I can, however, confirm that Ash will wind up with a girlfriend later. I also can confirm the revelation of Ash's father, Ash dealing with the power of the Aura, Mega Evolution being introduced (not quite sure if anyone like Ash or Gary will receive it yet), and a few deaths within this story. So please, R&R (read and review) if that's your thing and enjoy!**


	9. A Blooming Rivalry

To Become a Pokémon Master

Rockets in the Sky

Chapter 9

A Blooming Rivalry

Ash and Rhys paced anxiously around the Pokémon Center of Pewter City with bandages around their heads, impatiently waiting for Nurse Joy to return with Riley and his Pokémon.

"Ugh, I can't take this anymore!" Ash said as he began bolting towards the doors his friend disappeared behind what seems like hours ago.

Rhys reached out and grabbed Ash by his shoulder, stopping him. "Come now," he said in a soft voice. "Rushing in there won't make Riley come out there any faster. At least Nurse Joy was able to fix your Poké Balls."

Ash immediately felt himself calm down, almost as if it was against his will. A calm, warm sensation washed over him as Rhys removed his hand from his shoulder. "Yeah, you're right." Ash suddenly found himself saying. He couldn't explain it, but it felt as if Rhys gave off some sort of calming sensation with the touch of his hand.

"Hey guys!" Riley said. The two boys looked over to see Riley and his Pokémon walking alongside Nurse Joy.

"Riley!" the two yelled as they ran over to him. "You're okay!"

Riley nodded happily, holding his three Pokémon friends in his arms. "Yep, I sure am!"

The three walked over to a nearby couch and took a seat, still worn out from the events of earlier today. They stared at the starry night sky through the window in front of them. Street lights lit the way for cars occasionally passing by and there were a few people taking late night strolls.

Ash turned to the small boy sitting next to him who was smiling at his new friend, Dedenne, and asked "So what happened to Ursaring? How'd you get so strong?"

Riley let out a quiet sigh as he knew the time would come where he would have to explain himself. While it wasn't hard to do, the blonde-haired boy much preferred not to talk about it. "It all started back when I was a little kid. I was walking on Route 1 and I found Rattata hurt on the ground. He was in really bad shape, so I picked him up and right when I did, I felt something strange inside of me, like a power was being released from my hands. Next thing I knew, Rattata was completely healed. But we weren't out of the woods yet. This wild Spearow appeared and attacked us. At first I was scared, but then I connected with Rattata and he showed me that the Spearow was the one that hurt him. Then… I got angry. I could feel my anger building up inside me and before I knew it, Rattata jumped out of my arms and took down the Spearow. It started to become clear to me that I had these weird powers… I haven't gotten mad since then until today."

Rhys sat back with his arms folded. "I do recall hearing of something like that before…"

"Yeah," Riley turned to him. "It's called Ch-"

"Children of Viridian Forest, yes." Rhys finished. "But there was a legend of a hero long ago. She was one of the first and most powerful children of the forest. Her and a few of her friends teamed up to take down this wretched organization that enslaved Pokémon. My father told me that story every night before I went to bed."

"What was her name?" Ash asked out of curiosity.

Rhys let out a saddened sigh. "Her name was lost in legend. No one had heard of her name. But my father says he knew her. Apparently her name was Yellow. As far as her last name… I don't think he ever told me."

"She sounds incredible…" Riley's eyes twinkled with wonder and admiration for the woman of legend.

"Well, well, well!" a familiar voice that made Ash's ears twitch call from across the center. "If it isn't Ashy-boy!"

"Gary?" Ash's eyes widened as he turned his head to see his spiky brown-haired rival walking casually over to them. "What are you doing here?"

"Pfft. What does it look like? I'm here to earn my second badge!" he scoffed. "Although I guess I wouldn't expect a loser like you to know anything about gyms yet. I bet you missed the one in Terracotta Town." Gary teased.

Ash stood up and opened the side of his jacket, revealing a brand new, shiny Simple Badge pinned to the inside of it. "For your information, _GARY_, I just so happen to have the Simple Badge from the Terracotta Gym right here!" he proudly said.

Gary scoffed once again and folded his arms, laughing quietly to himself. "Alright, so maybe you're not as dense as I thought… but that doesn't prove anything!"

Pikachu jumped on Ash's shoulder, sparking electricity wildly from his cheeks. "Why don't you put your battling skills where your mouth is?" his trainer smugly requested.

Gary maximized a Poké Ball and smirked confidently at Ash. "You're on!"

The two rivals quickly ran out the back of the Pokémon Center onto its small battlefield and took their places, both Pokémon and trainer alike itching to test their skills to go up against one another. Rhys and Riley followed behind and sat on the edge of the field, leaning in with anticipation for the battle to begin.

"How's three on three sound to you?" Gary proposed.

"Three's all I got!" Ash called back.

"Likewise! Go, Pidgeotto!" Gary tossed a Poké Ball and out came a medium-sized bird with its wings spread, taking flight into the sky.

_"Pidgeotto, the Bird Pokémon. Very protective of its sprawling territory area, it will viciously peck any intruders. The claws on its feet are also very well developed, allowing it to carry away prey such as Exeggcute and Rattata to its nest over 60 miles away."_

Rattata and Caterpie both hid under Riley's straw hat, shaking with fear.

Ash watched Pidgeotto take off with such speed and power that it nearly blew him away. "Looks fast…" he murmured, grabbing Aipom's Poké Ball. "I've got just the thing! I choose you, Aipom!"

Aipom jumped out of her Poké Ball and made a beeline straight for her trainer in order to start tickling it. Thinking he was prepared, Ash stuck out his hand to push Aipom away, but she anticipated the act and jumped on, making it easy for her to crawl all over his body and tickle him mercilessly. Gary could only stand there awkwardly as he and his Pidgeotto, who landed back on the ground, watched such an… odd act take place. Finally having enough, Ash shoved her off and ordered her back to the battlefield.

"Aipom, use Scratch!" Ash yelled.

Aipom dashed at her opponent, ready to rake it with her sharp claws, when suddenly, without any order from its trainer, take off into the sky. The Long Tail Pokémon was left dumbfounded by the bird's speed as it soared high into the night sky.

"Now, Pidgeotto, use Wing Attack!"

The Bird Pokémon swooped down with incredible speed and slapped Aipom in the face with its wing, sending her flying back, but she managed to recover and land on her feet.

"Use Power-Up Punch!"

Aipom tightened the fist on her tail and charged at Pidgeotto. The Bird Pokémon took the night skies again, swiftly avoiding the attack- or so it thought! Ash called for his Aipom to jump and she did, taking the Pidgeotto off guard and allowing her to land a hard punch to the bird's chest, increasing her attack while doing so. The Long Tail Pokémon fell back to the ground on her feet with a smug smirk from her trainer.

"We'll wipe that stupid smile off your face! Get that Aipom with Feather Dance!"

Pidgeotto flew over Aipom and flapped its wings vigorously, sending feathers that rained softly down on Aipom. The monkey simply shook them off and went on without a single care.

"Aipom, use Power-Up Punch again!" Ash called.

Aipom soared into the air and delivered a punch right to Pidgeotto's face. But something was off. Surely the impact from the punch, plus the increase in attack last time should have done much more damage than it appeared to do, but the Bird Pokémon didn't even flinch as it smacked the Long Tail Pokémon back down to the ground with a Wing Attack by the order of its trainer.

Ash gasped at the sight of his fainted Aipom and returned it, thanking it for battling hard, but was left with a confused look on his face. "What in the world happened?"

"Feather Dance…" Rhys sighed. "That's a move that harshly lowers the opponent's attack."

"So is that why Aipom's Power-Up Punch didn't do a lot of damage?" Riley asked.

Rhys nodded his head and let out another sigh. "Looks like Ash is up for a tough one…"

"This next one should do the trick!" he said, returning Aipom's Poké Ball to his belt and grabbing another one, giving it a toss. "I choose you, Bulbasaur!"

Rhys's heart nearly skipped a beat as he saw Ash call out the little bulb Pokémon. "No…" he said under his breath.

"What's wrong?" Riley turned to an obviously concerned Rhys.

"Bulbasaur is a Grass type. Grass types are weak against Flying types…" Rhys took a sharp inhale of breath and hoped for the best. Even Bulbasaur shuddered slightly at the sight of the Bird Pokémon standing before him.

"Bulbasaur, use Razor Leaf!"

Bulbasaur sent sharp leaves flying from the bulb on its back in a frenzy up to Pidgeotto.

"Pidgeotto, use Gust to blow it back!"

Pidgeotto flapped its powerful wings, kicking up a strong wind that turned the sharp leaves around and blew them right back at Bulbasaur, scratching and cutting him up pretty good.

"Now, go in for a Wing Attack!"

The Bird Pokémon swooped down and slammed its wings into Bulbasaur, pushing it off its feet and into the ground, effectively knocking it out.

Ash growled with frustration and returned his fainted Pokémon once again. "Thank you, Bulbasaur. You did great!" He looked down at Pikachu and tightened his fist with a sudden determination, but deep down inside, there was a horrible feeling in his gut that he wouldn't win this. "Pikachu, it's all up to you!"

Pikachu nodded and jumped on the battlefield with sparks flying from his cheeks, ready to take down that Pidgeotto.

"Pikachu, use Thunder Shock!"

Pikachu roared and sent an electrical shock up at the Bird Pokémon.

"Hah!" Gary scoffed with confidence. "We'll blow that away too! Pidgeotto, use Gust!"

But no matter how hard Pidgeotto flapped its wings, the shock wouldn't sway from its course and struck Pidgeotto with a critical hit, causing it to fall to the ground. It slowly got up and took back to the skies with a roar, not being done in just yet.

"Pikachu, use Return!"

Pikachu glowed with a white energy and dashed quickly, jumping into the air and heading straight toward Pidgeotto like a rocket, imbued with the powerful bond he held with his trainer.

"Ugh, no time to dodge. Pidgeotto, counter it with Wing Attack!"

Pidgeotto swung its wing just in time, causing the two attacks to collide and small explosion of energy in the air with a dust cloud forming around the two Pokémon. Pikachu emerged from the dust, falling to the ground on his feet while his opponent landed flat on its back, utterly defeated.

Gary groaned and returned his Pokémon, but quickly maximized another ball with a gleam of determination in his green eyes. "This one should get you. Take down that Pikachu, Eevee!"

The same Pokémon back from the laboratory that Gary had taken from him appeared on the battlefield, looking much stronger than it was and even giving off quite the powerful roar of jurisdiction over Pikachu.

"Pikachu, use Thunder Shock!"

"Eevee, counter with Swift!"

Pikachu let loose a bolt of electricity from his cheeks that was met with a powerful blast of stars in the middle of the battlefield. As the two attacks collided, they exploded with energy, kicking up dust and smoke everywhere.

"Eevee, use Swift again!"

Star-shaped rays tore through the smoke as if they knew exactly where Pikachu was at.

"Pikachu, dodge and use Quick Attack!"

Pikachu moved to the side in an effort to dodge, but the stars oddly followed his movements and collided right into him, sending him flying off to the side.

"What?!" Ash gasped.

"Heh. It'd do you some good to read up on your moves, Ashy-boy! Swift can't ever miss!" Gary gloated. "Wrap this up with Iron Tail!"

Through the smoke, Pikachu saw Eevee's tail glow with a mysterious power as he came charging right for him.

"Pikachu, stop it with Thunder Shock!"

But Pikachu didn't listen. He stood his ground as his opponent quickly closed in and jumped, swinging his tail down right at him. The Mouse Pokémon suddenly turned around with an Iron Tail of his own and smacked his opponent's tail, the two attacks colliding with great force.

"Is that… Iron Tail?" Ash questioned. "Pikachu, don't let up!" he said, deciding to roll with it.

However, the newly-learned Iron Tail was no match for Eevee's experienced one and was easily overpowered, smacking Pikachu clear across the field and into a tree, defeating it.

Ash raced over to Pikachu and held him in his arms. "Pikachu, are you okay?!"

Pikachu weakly smiled up at his trainer, appearing to be sorry that he lost.

Ash held his head down in defeat as he was just waiting for Gary to come over and gloat about the win. But for some odd reason, that wasn't the case.

"Ash," Gary started.

"You don't have to say anything. I know I lost! We'll just train and get better! That's all!" Ash cut in with tears forming in his eyes, just now realizing how much he really wanted to win the battle.

Gary sighed and put his hands on his hips. "Look, you can train all you want… But if you don't know why you lost in the first place and work on it, then you'll never get better. I'll admit, I did get a little smug and I'm sorry. But it just felt like you were calling orders like some sort of clueless robot."

"I hate to be the one to say it," Rhys said as he approached the two. He could see Ash's obvious dislike for Gary, but thought that if he'd chime in, things wouldn't seem so bad. "But I think Gary is correct. It appeared that all you did was call orders while Gary actively assessed the situation and reacted, going with the flow of the battle."

"… Could you guys just stop ganging up on me?" Ash said as he stood up. "I'm going to get my Pokémon healed and then we're going to train. I don't need any advice, _especially _from you, _Gary._"

As Ash's friends and his rivals watched him disappear through the double doors of the Pokémon Center, they could only hope that he was alright and he knew what kind of training to do. The wannabe Pokémon Master had a big day ahead of him tomorrow- facing off against the hard-as-stone Brock, the Pewter City Gym Leader.


	10. A Rock-Hard Battle

**AN: As of now, each chapter has a title.**

* * *

To Become a Pokémon Master

Rockets in the Sky

Chapter 10

A Rock-Hard Battle

Dissimilar to the gym in Terracotta Town where challengers could just waltz right in, _no matter how rude they appeared to be, _ and challenge the Gym Leader without any hazards or trials. This, however, was not the case for the Pewter City Gym. Upon rushing in the doors of the large, boulder shaped gym, and proclaiming his challenge to Brock, the Gym Leader himself stood up from a large boulder he sat on and said that Ash would need to defeat two specialized Gym Trainers before he had the right to challenge him. Brock then asked how many gym badges the challenger had to which Ash replied one. This meant that Brock would have to change from his usual Geodude and Onix into something more suitable for a second gym battle.

Ash Ketchum took his spot on the rocky battlefield, awaiting for further instructions. Riley and Rhys sat in the bleachers while eagerly waiting for the first battle to begin, also worried about just what kind of training he did last night and what sort of strategy he had thought up.

A small boy who appeared to be about Riley's age, which was two years younger than Ash, stepped into the designated area on the battlefield for trainers. A small smirk appeared on Ash's face, thinking that a battle against such a young child would be easy, seeing as how there was an extremely slim chance he had the same powers as Riley. The boy had on a boy scout's outfit, signifying that he must have been a camper of some sort, possibly letting on that he had some experience outdoors. The young boy's attire only boosted Ash's confidence as the referee stepped out onto the field in between them. "The first battle between Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town and Jerry, the Gym Trainer of the Pewter City Gym will now be underway! Each trainer is allowed the use of only one Pokémon with no substitutions. Are both trainers in agreement to the rules?"

Both Ash and Jerry nodded their heads, itching to begin the battle. Ash sat his backpack on the ground next to him.

"Jerry has the first move! Let the battle begin!"

Jerry maximized his Poké Ball and gave it a surprisingly hard toss, but the force behind it didn't seem to call to Ash that he was an experienced trainer, as he still kept his misplaced confidence. "You're light years away from facing Brock. Go, Geodude!"

A boulder-like Pokémon with large arms appeared, floating slightly off the ground, on the battlefield. Ash quickly pulled out his Pokédex to examine it.

"_Geodude, the Rock Pokémon. Found in fields and mountains, it is impossible to distinguish it from real rocks. They're often stepped on or tripped over because of this. It slams against others in contests of hardness and strength."_

Ash took Bulbasaur's Poké Ball into his hand and threw it out, calling his partner with a yell "I choose you, Bulbasaur!"

Bulbasaur appeared on the field and stared down his opponent, ready to win just like his trainer. But unfortunately, they didn't have the first move, so they were stuck waiting for the opponent to give a command.

"Geodude, use Rollout!" Jerry yelled.

The foe tucked in its arms and began rolling down the field at Bulbasaur like a speedy ball.

"Bulbasaur, dodge and use Vine Whip!" Ash ordered.

As Geodude charged at Bulbasaur, he moved out of the way with a quick dash to the left and summoned two, long vines from the plant on his back, which struck the Geodude as he rolled past, propelling it into the wall. The Rock Pokémon slumped down to the ground, easily defeated.

"Geodude can no longer battle. Ash and Bulbasaur are the winners!"

"Great job, Bulbasaur!" Ash cheered. Bulbasaur looked back at his trainer and gave him a confident smile, not even having to break a sweat during the short battle.

Jerry returned his Pokémon and withdrew from the battlefield with a low-held head, saying "Looks like you're a little closer to facing him than I thought..."

A large, burly man with a scraggly beard and what appeared to be extremely heavy hiking equipment strapped to his back. But a man of his stature didn't even seem to feel it. Ash didn't even blink at the man, still ready to rock with his Bulbasaur.

"The battle between Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town and Edwin, the Pewter City Gym Trainer will be underway! Each trainer is allowed the use of one Pokémon with no substitutions! Will the challenger switch out his Pokémon before the battle?"

Ash shook his head. "No way, I'm staying with Bulbasaur!"

"He isn't gonna give Bulbasaur a break?" Riley gasped.

Rhys sat back and folded his arms as usual, gaining a curious expression on his face. "Well, he didn't seem to even wear himself out in the first battle. I think he's fine for now, but Ash should probably switch to Aipom or Pikachu once he faces Brock."

"Ash will have the first move. Let the battle begin!"

Edwin maximized a Poké Ball and gave it a harder toss than the boy before him. "We're gonna rock you like a hurricane! Go, Bonsly!"

A Pokémon that resembled a small, potted plant appeared on the battlefield. It looked intimidated by Bulbasaur's determined glare.

"_Bonsly, the Bonsai Pokémon. It prefers arid temperatures. It will often leak water that looks like tears to adjust its body's moisture levels."_

"Bulbasaur, let's keep winning these in one go! Use Vine Whip!"

Bulbasaur roared as two vines from its back charged straight towards his new enemy.

"Bonsly, dodge and use Copycat!"

"Copycat?" Ash tilted his head in confusion.

"Oh no..." Rhys said as he leaned forward.

Bulbasaur's vines whipped at Bonsly, but the Bonsai Pokémon dodged with a jump and sent vines of its own down at its enemy. The vines struck Bulbasaur repeatedly until they returned to the small Pokémon as it landed on the ground.

"What just happened?" Riley asked, looking over at Rhys with an even more worried expression on his face.

"Copycat is a move that allows the user to copy the last move its opponent used and use it against them. Ash is gonna have a tough battle if he doesn't choose his moves carefully."

Bulbasaur struggled to pull himself to his feet after taking so many lashings from the Vine Whip attack. He was obviously in pain, but his trainer didn't notice and ordered for a Razor Leaf attack, which Brock took notice of as he sat atop his boulder, looking down at the battle before him.

Bulbasaur launched sharp leaves that swarmed Bonsly with a wide area of coverage, leaving it no room to dodge. The leaves struck Bonsly, cutting and slashing against its rock body, effectively knocking it out.

"Bonsly is unable to battle. Ash and Bulbasaur are the winners!"

"Nice job, Bulbasaur!" Ash cheered.

Bulbasaur looked back to give his trainer a smile, but it was considerably weaker than the first. However, Ash still didn't take notice of Bulbasaur's exhaustion, which worried Rhys, Riley, and Brock.

The Gym Leader hopped off his boulder and onto the battlefield, maximizing a Poké Ball in his hand and giving Ash a cold expression.

"The battle between Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town and Brock, the Pewter City Gym Leader will now be underway! Each trainer is allowed the use of three Pokémon with only the challenger being allowed to substitute. Will the challenger change Pokémon before the battle begins?"

Ash shook his head once again, placing an extreme amount of confidence on his Bulbasaur. "Nu-uh. Me and Bulbasaur have got this!"

Even the referee could see that Bulbasaur was to the point of exhaustion. "Umm.. Are you sure?"

Ash nodded his head, ready to get on with the battle.

"Brock will have the first move. Let the battle begin!"

Brock hesitated to call out his Pokémon, looking at the tired Bulbasaur struggling to stand upright on his feet and his trainer not even turning a blind eye to notice. He sighed, knowing he had a job to do. New trainers were the toughest part of his job. "I'll show you just how hard being a trainer is. We'll rock you into submission! Go, Onix!" the Gym Leader yelled with a toss of his Poké Ball.

A large, rock snake Pokémon appeared on the field, roaring down at his small opponent.

"Onix, strike Bulbasaur with your tail." Brock simply said.

"Bulbasaur, dodge and use Vine Whip!" Ash yelled.

Onix brought his large tail around and struck Bulbasaur, as it was too tired to dodge, and slammed it into the wall, knocking it out in one, single hit.

"Ash's Bulbasaur is unable to battle! Brock's Onix wins!"

"Ah!" Ash gasped. "How in the world did Onix knock out Bulbasaur like that?" He said as he returned him to his ball. "You did good though, Bulbasaur. Thank you." The trainer unclasped another ball from his belt and tossed it. "Aipom, I choose you!"

Aipom appeared on the field, immediately startled by the size of her opponent and ran to go hide behind her trainer's leg, surprisingly not tickling him.

"Come on, Aipom, you can do it!" Ash said as he pushed her back onto the field.

Aipom reluctantly took her spot on the battlefield, not too ready to battle.

A girl opened the door to the gym, seeing Ash on the battlefield with his Pokémon and smiled in delight, running towards him, but she was soon stopped by two boys sitting in the stands off to the side.

"Hey!" a boy in a straw hat yelled.

The girl stopped and looked over at the boys in the bleachers. "Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt anything! I was just looking around and sort of wandered in here."

"Come join us!" the young boy smiled. "Our friend is battling right now."

With a smile, the girl approached the two boys and sat down next to them, ready to watch the battle begin.

"Aipom, use Power-Up Punch!" Ash yelled.

"Onix, use Rock Tomb!"

Aipom ran down the battlefield with the fist on her tail ready to hit Onix. The Rock Snake Pokémon summoned boulders that crashed down on the field wildly. Aipom soon found herself trapped in a formation of boulders, unable to escape.

"Aipom, get out of there!" Ash gasped as he saw a large boulder getting ready to crash down on her.

"You won't be able to escape! Rock Tomb is our specialty!" Brock roared.

But it was no use. Try as hard as she could, Aipom couldn't escape and was defeated by the large boulder crashing down on here, crumbling with the impact and defeating her.

"Ash's Aipom is unable to battle! Brock's Onix is the winner!"

Ash hung his head, returning Aipom and thanking her for her service. He suddenly raised his head with a clearly frustrated and angry expression on his face. "Pikachu, let's take these guys down! I choose you!"

Pikachu ran out onto the battlefield with sparks flying angrily from his cheeks.

"Pikachu, use Thunder Shock!" Ash ordered.

"Ah!" Rhys gasped again. "Ash should not have done that!"

Pikachu let loose a powerful shock of electricity that struck the Rock Snake Pokémon in vain. Onix took the attack head on and shrugged it off as if it were nothing. Ash was left speechless at the failed attack and ordered to try again, yet the same result came. Nothing.

Brock began to grow angry with the trainer not learning from his mistake the first time and became extremely frustrated with him. "This ends here. Onix, use Bulldoze!"

Onix slapped its tail hard on the ground, sending a shock wave of power through it that struck Pikachu with tremendous force, knocking it out in one hit. Ash rushed to his Pokémon's side, collapsing to his knees and taking him into his arms.

Rhys and Riley hastily ran from the bleachers to Ash and helped him up. "Your Pokémon have taken a lot of damage... We should get them to the Center right away." Rhys said. Ash agreed and the three started to run toward the door, but were stopped by an angry voice calling out to them.

"Stop right there!" Brock said as he approached them and glared down at Ash with disdain. "Young man, do you even know what just happened here today?"

"We weren't strong enough and we-"

"NO!" Brock angrily interrupted with a yell. "Your Pokémon are powerful; its their trainer that's weak. You couldn't see that Bulbasaur was exhausted after its fight with Edwin's Bonsly and you put it in an unnecessary position. The only reason you lost was because you failed to connect with your Pokémon today and understand what they wanted. Your Aipom didn't even want to battle! All you did was just call orders. You should be ashamed of yourself. Don't come back until you learn how to connect and battle with your Pokémon effectively."

As the three boys ran out of the gym, one with tears in his eyes, the girl glanced over at the field to see that Ash forgot his backpack.

**. . .**

Later that night, Ash sat out in the back of the Pokémon Center alone as his Pokémon recovered. Brock's words stung like a Poison Jab to the stomach as he contemplated his loss in the cold, dark, starry sky. "It was all my fault... I'm so stupid..."

"Um... excuse me?" an unfamiliar voice said. Ash turned to see a kind girl, dressed in black shirt, pink hat, and red skirt with long, honey-colored hair flowing in back of her as the wind blew slightly. Her appearance struck Ash with the strangest sense of deja-vu, but it none the less, sent his heart into an unexpected tizzy. The beauty of the girl was unlike anything he had ever seen. From her soft, blue eyes down to her hard, black boots, he felt nervous, almost blushing. He didn't even notice the fact that she had his backpack in her hand until she spoke up. "I think this is yours." She said quietly, holding the bag up.

"Oh!" Ash perked up. "How'd you find it?"

"I was there when you started your battle with Brock."

"Oh..." Ash slowly slumped back down. "So I guess you saw me lose, huh?"

The girl nodded reluctantly. "But if its any consolation, I think you did great!"

Ash let out a long, depressed sigh as he looked up at her. "No, I really didn't. I let my Pokémon down today..."

The girl looked down, sadly.

"But thank you for trying to cheer me up though!" Ash said, taking notice of her heartbreaking sadness. "I'm Ash. Ash Ketchum. Who're you?"

"My name's Serena." She smiled at him, shaking his hand, almost seeming unwilling to let go. "It's so nice to meet you, Ash."

Suddenly, Pikachu, Bulbasaur, and Aipom came rushing out to him, jumping into his lap and happily hugging him with Riley and Rhys following behind them.

"Hey, Ash!" Riley happily greeted.

"How are you feeling?" Rhys asked.

"A little better." Ash said, smiling slightly at Serena. "Oh, guys, this is Serena! I forgot my backpack at the gym and she brought it to me."

"Oh!" Riley smiled. "You're the girl that watched Ash battle with us!"

"Mhmm," she nodded happily. "You know, Ash, if you need help training, I could probably be of some assistance."

"Really?" Ash asked, turning to her with a curious expression on his face. "How?"

"Well, I'm from the Kalos Region," she started. "My mom didn't want me to come here alone, so she gave me her Rhyhorn. It knows Rock Tomb. Maybe we could use it to try and work up as strategy? You could even connect with your Pokémon a little too while you guys train!"

Ash immediately shot up from his seat and cheered "That'd be awesome!"

The two quickly took their places on the field and called out their Pokémon- Ash's Pikachu, Bulbasaur, and Aipom up against Serena's Rhyhorn.

"_Rhyhorn, the Spikes Pokémon. It is inept at running because of its four, short legs and as a result, cannot change direction easily, but it possesses a very powerful Tackle power. They've even been known to shatter skyscrapers with their force."_

"We're ready!" Ash called out.

"Rhyhorn, use Rock Tomb!" Serena ordered.

The Spikes Pokémon summoned rocks that fell from the sky in the same fashion that Brock's Onix flung them.

"Guys, dodge them!"

Ash's Pokémon began to haphazardly move in between the falling rocks, doing their best to dodge them. Unfortunately, their speed wasn't quite there yet as each of them were hit by boulders that fell in front of them, sending them flying through the air. Ash dove and barely managed to catch his Pokémon in his arms, saving them from the fall, but suffered a blow to his elbow as a resort. The bandage on his head began to slowly unravel as he sat there, looking down at his Pokémon with Brock's words stabbing his back and tears forming in his eyes. That feeling of frustration and helplessness returned to him, rendering him unable to do anything but sit there and let the tears roll down his face. "This is useless..." he thought to himself. "How did I not connect with my Pokémon? Even if we do manage to form a connection, there's still Brock's Rock Tomb that we have to worry about. And I couldn't even get past his Onix!"

As Brock's Onix reigned victorious over Ash with such an overwhelming difference in power and affinity, the question would it even be possible for him to earn his second badge crossed in his mind. His skills were truly being put to the test as a Pokémon Trainer and he could feel his body cracking under the pressure. Can Ash defeat the stone-cold Gym Leader, Brock? Or does his journey end here?"

Serena knelt down to Ash, presenting a red handkerchief to him. He thanked and her wiped the tears away from his eyes. "Umm.. Ash?" she nervously said.

Ash looked up at her.

"D- Do you remember me?"


	11. Making Memories

To Become a Pokémon Master

Rockets in the Sky

Chapter 11

Making Memories

_**Five years earlier...**_

"_Now, now, children," Professor Oak started as a gaggle of disorganized children followed behind hi like sheep to a shepherd. "Stay close, we can't have anyone wandering around. It could be dangerous."_

_The children nodded and began looking around at awe as they were outside in the backyard of Professor Oak's laboratory. It was the place where many Pokémon were kept while their trainers were out on adventures of their own. Many trainers that got their Pokédexes through the Pokémon Professor loved the services that he provided them- feeding the Pokémon, playing with them, giving them a wide, grand environment to run around- the Pokémon trainers owed their lives to him._

_A small girl named Serena suddenly found herself separated from the group. All that stood in her way was a tall tree and all that kept her company was her youthful fear. No more Professor Oak, just a tree with bushes surrounding her. A single rustle from a nearby bush was enough to scare her to her knees as she curled up under the tree, tears streaming down her face like a waterfall and knees buckling like there was earthquake rocking through them. _

"_Hey!" the young Ash Ketchum called out with his best friend Gary standing beside him. "Do you need help?"_

_Serena nodded through her tears and the two boys rushed over to her. Right as they neared her, a wild Pidgey swooped down and began pecking at the ground in front of the poor girl. Obviously, she screamed as high as her five-year-old lungs would let her. The two best friends rushed in, the one with green eyes shooing the way the wild Pidgey and the one with red eyes kneeling to her side._

"_Hey, are you okay?" the red-eyed boy asked, extending a hand out to her._

_The girl shook her head vigorously. He could see plain as day that she was terrified. "I want my mommy! I wanna go back to Kalos!"_

_Ash took the frightened girl's hand into his and gave her a soft, innocent smile. "Hey, come on, you can't give up. I know it's scary, but it's also pretty fun! Don't give up until it's over!"_

_The two shared a moment of staring into each others eyes, blushing as the boy helped the girl up. The girl put her hands behind her back, blushing even harder as she avoided eye contact with him, but had the biggest smile a five-year-old could have._

_However, the green-eyed boy broke the cute silence. "Ash Ketchum!" he yelled. "What do you think you're doing?!" The young boy was infuriated for some reason as his hands were on his hips, almost looking as if they'd launch up and shove the poor boy._

"_What?" Ash cocked his head in confusion. _

"_That's my girlfriend!" Gary said, pointing at himself. "I saved her, so she's mine!" The rowdy boy tugged the girl's arm, pulling her to his side._

_Ash growled and grabbed Serena by the hand, pulling her back to his side. "NO. She's MINE!" he fought back with a furious retaliation. Thus began their rivalry. Over a girl. … From five years ago._

_This continued on for about five minutes until the three children were found by Professor Oak, who was definitely not pleased with their behavior. When asked who started the fight, Ash and Gary quickly pointed at each other, which just left Serena giggling to herself off to the side, keeping the words Ash said to her close to her heart._

_**. . .**_

_**And now...**_

"Of course..." Ash said with a smile on his face, wiping the tears away from his eyes. He confidently stood up, a new boy and grinned down at his Pokémon. "How could I forget the most important thing of all?! Never giving up!"

Serena giggled at the sight of her red-eyed friend getting back on his feet and rushed back over to her Rhyhorn. "Are you ready to keep trying?"

"As many times as it takes!" Ash cheered along with his Pokémon.

"Then Rhyhorn, use Rock Tomb!"

With a mighty roar, Rhyhorn sent rocks blasting Ash's Pokémon.

"Guys, cover all angles and try to dodge them this time!" Ash ordered.

Pikachu, Bulbasaur, and Aipom began anticipating the rocks, swiftly dodging a good number of them before being hit again. Ash dove a second time to save them as they flew back, not wanting them to get hurt too badly. His Pokémon had closed their eyes, fearing for the worst as they flew through the air, but once they saw they were in their trainer's arms, a wave of determination overcame them and they quickly returned back to the battlefield. That's when it hit Ash that he still wasn't connecting with his Pokémon, but still just calling orders.

"Serena, hold on for a second!" he called out.

Right as she was about to order another Rock Tomb, she stopped herself and watched Ash as he sat down on the ground.

The trainer's Pokémon flocked to him, wondering what he was thinking as they could see he was in a state of extremely hard thought. "Let's see... I think a way of connecting with you guys would be seeing your abilities. I've just been calling orders according to what I think, but let's see what you guys can do." He turned his attention to his Grass type Pokémon, Bulbasaur. "Bulbasaur, you're up first! Serena, I'd like to use my Bulbasaur against your Rhyhorn's Rock Tomb!"

Serena nodded as Ash's Bulbasaur took his place on the field with Pikachu and Aipom resting on their trainer's shoulders. "Rhyhorn, use Rock Tomb!" she ordered.

As Rhyhorn began sending rocks toward Bulbasaur, Ash thought to himself what moves and abilities his Pokémon had. There was his actual ability, Overgrow, but that only activated when he only had one quarter of his health remaining. It seemed like a good idea at first, but then Ash realized how irresponsible it would be to intentionally let Bulbasaur's health get down. All that remained was Bulbasaur's moves, which were Headbutt, String Shot, Razor Leaf, and Vine Whip. There was no way he'd be able to get all the rocks with Headbutt or String Shot. Suddenly, two great ideas clicked into Ash's head. "Serena! We're ready!"

"I wonder what he thought of..." Riley said, holding is Pokémon and sitting off to the side of the field.

Rhys took a seat next to the young boy and folded his arms with his Mienfoo joining him. "Well, we'll have to see."

"Rhyhorn, use Rock Tomb!"

The Spikes Pokémon hurled large rocks at the little bulb Pokémon. As the rocks approached him, Ash turned his hat backwards and yelled "Use Vine Whip to hit them away!"

Bulbasaur called forth the vines from his back and whipped them around swiftly, repelling every rock that came his way, some even slamming into Rhyhorn.

"Yes!" Ash and Bulbasaur cheered at their success. "Let's do it again!"

And surely enough, the plan worked. Bulbasaur shielded himself and hit every last rock away, using Vine Whip as some sort of shield to keep them at bay.

"Good job, Bulbasaur." Ash smiled as the bulb Pokémon exchanged places with the monkey on his shoulder. "Aipom, you're next!" He knew right off the bat that none of Aipom's moves would be able to deflect enough rocks to use it like Bulbasaur, but he had another plan in store for her.

"Rhyhorn, use Rock Tomb!"

Rhyhorn began sending rocks that barreled across the field, toward Aipom.

"Now, Aipom, jump on the rocks to Rhyhorn and use Power-Up Punch!"

Aipom screamed in delight as she swung from rock to rock, having the time of her life. Soon enough, she reached her target and crashed a hard-packed fist into the ground, having had Rhyhorn move out of the way just in time.

Ash called for a second time and Aipom was able to successfully maneuver between the rocks with ease and strike at Rhyhorn once again. He called her back and she exchanged places with the Mouse Pokémon on his shoulder. "We've got this, Pikachu!"

Now, Ash had to stop and think for a moment again. Pikachu was an Electric type, which meant he was at a complete disadvantage for a Pokémon like Onix that's both a Rock and Ground type. Moves like Thunder Shock wouldn't work as a direct attack. His other moves, Return, Quick Attack, and Iron Tail would prove to be useless against Rock Tomb. Or were they...? Ash hatched a brilliant plan in his head which surprisingly involved all of Pikachu's moves. "Serena, we're ready!"

"Rhyhorn, use Rock Tomb!"

Rhyhorn lobbed rocks at the small Mouse Pokémon.

"Pikachu, spin on your back and use Thunder Shock!"

Pikachu began spinning on his back, sending bolts of electricity everywhere that repelled most of the rocks. He got up to see the last bit of them hurling toward him with great speed. Part two of Ash's plan began.

"Pikachu, use Quick Attack to jump on the rocks and slam them back with Return!"

Using the added speed from Quick Attack, Pikachu propelled himself from rock to rock, occasionally slamming a few back with Return. It didn't take long for him to get straight above his target, which Ash then ordered fro him to crash down with an Iron Tail attack. Pikachu slammed down at the ground in front of Rhyhorn with a powerful tail made of iron, not wanting to harm the Spikes Pokémon.

"Great job, Pikachu!" Ash and his Pokémon cheered. "Alright, everyone, let's keep at the training!"

Ash and his Pokémon honed the skills they had just learned with Serena and her Rhyhorn vigorously until midnight. While Ash and his Pokémon hadn't broke so much as a sweat, it poured from Serena and Rhyhorn like a water fountain.

"Ash..." Serena said, panting heavily and leaning against her Rhyhorn. "Its late... and we're tired... can we call it quits?"

"Aww..." Ash slumped his shoulders. "But we need you guys for Rock Tomb!"

Rhys stood up, carrying an already-asleep Riley in his arms. "I think we'd best be getting to bed. Besides, you've got quite the big day tomorrow."

Ash let out a small sigh and nodded his head. "You guys go on ahead. We'll be there in a bit."

"Don't stay up too late." Rhys said with a yawn as he and Serena retired into the Pokémon Center.

Ash turned back to his Pokémon who were still ready and rearing to go. "Alright, guys, let's keep on training!"

His Pokémon cheered, but were suddenly interrupted by man draped in a brown overcoat and black top hat tilted over his eyes approaching them. Ash uneasily stepped in front of his Pokémon and furrowed his brow furiously at the man.

"Please," the man said with a small smile, holding his hand up. "I am not a villain. I just saw you and your Pokémon training and had to say that your tenacity is something to be admired."

"Thank you...?" Ash tilted his head, not entirely sure of what tenacity meant.

"I was wondering..." the man reached into his pocket with Ash flinching, but only pulled out a Poké Ball, maximizing it. "Would you and your Pikachu care for a battle against me?"

Ash looked at the man oddly. "Sure..." he said as the two took their places on the battlefield. The man tossed his Poké Ball and called forth, much to his surprise, a Pikachu of his own. "So he's got a Pikachu too..."

"Show me your Pikachu's abilities." the man requested.

"Now that we can do! Pikachu, use Quick Attack!" Ash yelled.

Pikachu quickly dashed from side to side, hastily closing in on the fellow Mouse Pokémon. He slammed his body as hard as he could into his foe, but despite all the power behind it, the enemy would not move. In fact, the rival Pikachu repelled Ash's Pikachu across the field, showing the extreme difference in power.

"Good," the man smiled for some reason. "Now, show me your Thunder Shock."

"Alright then... Pikachu, use Thunder Shock! Give it your all!"

Pikachu released powerful bolts of electricity from his cheeks that didn't even make the rival Pikachu flinch. It took the attack head on and received no damage whatsoever from it.

"Wow..." Ash gritted his teeth. "They're way stronger than us... But we can still-"

Right before Ash could finish his sentence, the man returned his Pikachu and put the Poké Ball away in his pocket. "You and your Pikachu.. Yes, I can feel it. You two are great friends." He approached Ash, gave him a small, yellow ball, and went on his way. "Please, give this to your Pikachu. Its a Light Ball. It will increase his attack and special attack by leaps and bounds." The man turned around with one final sentence before he disappeared into the night. "May our roads never cross again."

Ash turned back with a "Who ar-" but by the time he could turn around, the man was nowhere to be seen and he was left with a small, yellow ball in his hands. He looked down at it, seeing bolts of lightning crackling inside of it as if a massive storm was raging. It would soon pass that his Pikachu would become the storm inside of it as Ash handed the Light Ball to his partner.

**. . .**

The smell of battle was in the air as Ash Ketchum stood in the Pewter City Gym, facing off against Brock once again, who didn't seem too pleased to see him back so soon. In fact, he thought it stupid for the boy to have returned so quickly, thinking that he couldn't have learned a single thing in one night. "Young man, have you learned how to connect with your Pokémon yet?"

"No," Ash surprisingly replied. "But that's the whole reason I'm here- to learn!"

Brock gasped at the boy's answer and let out a soft smile. "Well I won't go easy! Go, Onix!" he yelled as he tossed the Poké Ball, summoning the large, Rock Snake Pokémon that claimed flawless victory over them the other day.

"Aipom, I choose you!" Ash yelled as Aipom jumped off his shoulder and onto the battlefield.

"Brock gets the first move! Let the battle begin!"

"Onix, use Rock Polish!" Brock swiftly ordered.

Onix's body began to gleam brightly, sharply raising its speed.

"Aipom, get in there while its raising its speed and use Power-Up Punch!" Ash yelled.

Aipom dashed toward her foe with the tail on her fist tightened, ready to go. With great speed, Onix slapped its tail down in front of Aipom, stopping her dead in her tracks.

"Now, use Rock Tomb!"

Onix conjured rocks that spun around it, eventually flying toward its opponent.

"Aipom, jump on the rocks and use Power-Up Punch!" Ash happily yelled.

Aipom had the time of her life as she swung around on the rocks and delivered a sharp uppercut of a Power-Up Punch right to Onix's lower jaw.

"Again, Power-Up Punch!"

Aipom flipped and grabbed onto Onix's lower mouth with her hands. She swung forward and landed an even stronger punch to the Rock Snake's mid-section.

"Ah!" Brock gasped as Onix lurched back, roaring in pain. Aipom landed on the ground in front of his Pokémon and Brock gained a sly grin. "Onix, use Iron Tail in front of you!"

"Dodge it!" Ash quickly cried out.

Aipom swiftly did a back bend, narrowly avoiding the large, iron-clad tail that swung above her. She raised her long tail and hooked on it, swinging off the incredible force behind Onix's Iron Tail and landed right on its face.

"Now! Do it! Power-Up Punch!" Ash smiled.

Aipom smirked devilishly and smacked Onix clear in the face with a Power-Up Punch and brought the Rock Snake Pokémon with on last roar down to the ground, defeated.

"Onix is unable to battle! Ash's Aipom is the winner!"

Aipom ran back into her trainer's arms and celebrated excitedly with him, tickling him all over before he had push her off again.

Brock returned his Onix and watched the boy having fun with his Aipom and smiled again. "Maybe I've misjudged you a little..." he took out another Poké Ball and maximized it with a serious look on his face. "But I don't make the same mistakes twice! Go, Graveler!"

A large, rock Pokémon with four massive arms appeared on the field, grimacing at Aipom and intimidating her.

"_Graveler, the Rock Pokémon. With a free and uncaring nature, it doesn't mind if pieces of it chip off during battle. It rolls down slopes to move and crushes any obstacle in its way."_

"Aipom, come on back!" Ash yelled. "You did great." he said, congratulating her as she returned to his side. "I choose you, Bulbasaur!"

"Let the battle begin!"

Ash and Bulbasaur stood, staring their opponent down, shaking a little at the sight of the Rock Pokémon's four arms which he knew would cause a problem.

Brock tapped his foot impatiently at the trainer and decided to make a move. "You can't win the battle if you don't do anything! Graveler, use Rollout!"

Graveler tucked its arms in and barreled down the field at a high speed toward Bulbasaur.

"Bulbasaur, stop it with Razor Leaf!"

Bulbasaur sent sharp leaves from the plant on his back at the rolling Pokémon, but they meagerly bounced off as if they were nothing. The Rock Pokémon smashed into Seed Pokémon, blowing it away.

"Bulbasaur, are you okay?!" Ash cried out.

Bulbasaur struggled to his feet and roared, still ready to battle.

"Use Vi-"

Graveler made its way around the field and slammed into Bulbasaur again even harder.

"What's happening?" Riley asked, looking over at Rhys.

Rhys sharply inhaled and folded his arms as usual. "Rollout gains power and speed every time it hits."

"So that would mean Ash needs to find a way to dodge so Graveler can't keep up the momentum..." Serena added in.

"Exactly. But after the second hit, its hard to dodge a move that's gotten so quick. I hope he figures out something..." Rhys sighed.

Ash saw Graveler coming around the bend again and felt his heart pounding against his chest wildly. But then he remembered both Brock and Gary's words about connecting with his Pokémon and an idea began to form in his head. The idea wasn't forming quick, though. Graveler was closing in and Bulbasaur could barely stand up.

"Remember your training with everyone!" Serena cried out.

"That's it!" Ash yelled. "Bulbasaur, jump out of the way with Vine Whip!"

Right as Graveler was about to run over Bulbasaur, the Seed Pokémon used his vines to propel himself into the air. He flew out of harm's way and ended the Rock Pokémon's streak.

"Gotcha!" Brock smirked. "Graveler, use Rock Tomb!"

Graveler called forth rocks above Bulbasaur and rained them down on him, crashing him into the ground with tremendous force.

"End this with Rollout!" Brock yelled.

"Bulbasaur, String Shot!" Ash quickly retorted.

As Graveler prepared to tuck its arms in, Bulbasaur spun a sticky thread that wrapped around it, trapping it in an awkward position which it couldn't seem to move. The Rock Pokémon desperately tried to break free, but the thread proved to be too powerful.

"Bulbasaur, _end this _with Headbutt!" Ash commanded.

Bulbasaur valiantly charged his opponent and with every ounce of energy he had left, slammed his head into the large Rock Pokémon, slamming it into the wall and defeating it.

"Graveler is unable to battle! Ash's Bulbasaur is the winner!"

However, right as the referee announced the winner, Bulbasaur collapsed from exhaustion. Ash ran over to him and picked him up, smiling down at him as he returned him to his Poké Ball. "Bulbasaur, you did so great! Get some rest, buddy."

Brock returned his Onix and let out a long sigh. "You know, its been a long time since I've had a battle where the difference in power is this great. I'll admit, I doubted you the very second you walked in here, and then I doubted you even more when you walked back in here today. But you've improved so much that I can barely believe it."

"Thank you." Ash smiled. "I never could've done any of this without my friends." He looked down at his Pokémon and then over at his three friends cheering him on in the stands. "They're my power and I'm theirs!"

Pikachu ran out on the battlefield with electricity sparking from his cheeks, waiting for his opponent to arrive.

Brock took his final Poké Ball from his pocket and smiled down at it. "I know what that feels like, to be sharing your Pokémon's power. Show me your final Pokémon's power! My final Pokémon, go!"

But... something was wrong. The Gym Leader _clearly _tossed his Poké Ball and the ball _clearly _opened. But nothing happened! Not even the lights that flash when a Pokémon comes out of its ball.

"Let the battle begin!"

"What?!" Ash said as he and Pikachu were stuck scanning the battlefield. No matter how hard they looked, they couldn't find a single thing that pointed to an actual opponent being _on the field._

"Use Rock Tomb!" Brock yelled.

Suddenly, rocks rained down from the ceiling, trapping Pikachu in a circular formation of rocks, having been caught completely off guard. A quick glance to the ceiling revealed a Pokémon with a brown shell and yellow claws skating around on it as if it were the actual ground.

"_Kabuto, the Shellfish Pokémon. This Pokémon was revived from an ancient fossil. It is thought to have inhabited beaches and caves years ago. They have hard shells that are almost impenetrable."_

"Now, use Absorb!" Brock commanded.

Kabuto spat a strange fluid that landed on Pikachu's head. The Mouse Pokémon gagged at the feeling of it running down his face, but was soon screaming in pain as the Shellfish Pokémon's eyes glowed green, stealing energy from him.

"Blast it with Bubble Beam!"

Kabuto's eyes lost its glow and it blew down a ray of bubbles that bombarded down on Pikachu, who tried to escape from it but was helplessly trapped within the Rock Tomb.

Ash's frustration grew as he saw his friend being smashed helplessly. "There has to be a way out..." he thought to himself. "Pikachu, spin around and use Iron Tail!"

Pikachu spun, smashing his iron-clad tail against the rocks, destroying them and freeing him from the trap. Now the only problem was the fact that Kabuto fought on the ceiling and they were limited to the ground.

"Kabuto, Mud Shot!"

"Pikachu, use Quick Attack to dodge it!"

Kabuto began skating around on the ceiling, chasing Pikachu while firing hard-packed balls of mud that he so narrowly dodged. As the Mouse Pokémon raced around the field, trying to dodge the attack, drops of water plopped down on his head. Ash took notice and narrowed his eyes up to the ceiling, seeing Kabuto leave behind small trails of water.

"That Bubble Beam must have left Kabuto's mouth wet..." the trainer concluded. Suddenly, it clicked in his head- the sure way to get Kabuto off the ceiling. "Pikachu, use Thunder Shock on the streaks of water on the ceiling!"

Pikachu stopped and aimed the electrical discharge from his cheeks up at the trails of water. The water sparked and cracked with electricity as it traveled all over and shocked Kabuto.

"What?!" Brock yelled as he watched his final Pokémon slam into the ground, paralyzed from the attack.

"Wrap this up with Iron Tail!"

Pikachu charged at his foe and swung a tail as hard as iron into Kabuto, sending it clear across the field and slamming against the wall, ultimately defeated.

"Kabuto is no longer able to battle! The Gym Leader, Brock is out of useable Pokémon, which means the challenger, Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town wins!"

Ash happily ran out onto the field and scooped his partner up in his arms. "Pikachu! Aipom! Bulbasaur! We did it! We beat Brock!" His Pokémon roared with happiness, cheering as loud as they possibly could.

Brock approached the young challenger and patted him on the shoulder. "Ash, that was a very good battle. I'm thoroughly impressed. You didn't even lose a single Pokémon. I think you've more than deserved this." The Gym Leader presented him with a gym badge- the Boulder Badge.

Ash Ketchum happily accepted the badge and pinned it next to the Simple Badge on the inside of his coat. "Alright! We got the Boulder Badge!"

"Pi-Pikachu!"

"Bulbah-Bulbasaur!"

"Aye-Aipom!"

"Also," Brock dug around in his pocket and took out a small CD. "Please, take this. Its TM39. It contains Rock Tomb, my favorite move."

"Thank you," Ash said as he accepted the TM. "We'll never forget this battle. We're gonna start learning from our mistakes."

Brock smiled down at the trainer. "I hope you continue to work hard with your Pokémon."

"Don't worry!" Ash said as he and his friends departed from the gym. "We'll never stop! I'll battle you again one day, Brock! Don't misjudge us!"

As the four children stepped outside of the gym, they were greeted by the warm afternoon sun beating down on them, giving light to this glorious day that Ash managed to overcome his challenges. Now with his three friends, Riley, the Child of the Viridian Forest, Rhys, the kind and helpful boy, and Serena, the beautiful, brand new trainer that held special history with him, nothing would stop Ash from achieving his dreams. To Become a Pokémon Master!


	12. A Fairy In Trouble

**AN: If you don't have a problem with the flashback from Chapter 11, please skip this and continue with the story.**

I've received a few angry reviews and messages from people about the flashback from Chapter 11. The biggest problem appeared to be the fact that Ash didn't seem too nice in the flashback while minor problems were that it wasn't anything like anime's flashback, the fact that Ash and Gary were friends, feeling that Gary was not needed in the flashback, and the fact that Ash and Gary fought over her. So please, allow me to take some of your time by addressing these issues. First and foremost, I would like to apologize to those who are offended or have a problem with how I choose to write my story, what I choose to make my characters do, and what I actions I dictate for them. Secondly, I would just like to state that every little kid was a jerk at some point in their life. It's physically impossible for a small child to go through their childhood without being mean at least once, because they're still learning what's wrong and what's right and how the world works. No one is completely good or bad. Personally, I feel the Ash in the anime now is completely good, which is unrealistic.

Secondly, I would just like to say that nowhere in my Author's Notes did I say this story would be exactly like the anime. There is indeed evidence to support the fact that in the R/B/G/Y games, the protagonist and antagonist were once friends. There's even an article in Bulbapedia in Red's chaarcter profile for Pokemon: The Origin that CLEARLY states he and his rival, Blue, were once friends. Since each one of these characters is based off their counterparts, I decided to go with it. As far as Gary being present in the flashback goes, it adds for drama later in the story. I didn't make Ash mean for the sake of the plot. He was being a little kid and so were Gary and Serena. I don't make characters say things just so they can say it. If a character needs to say something, they'll say it the way they want to say it (which is sort of the way I want them to say it, but you get the idea, sort of.). No one says anything entirely for the convenience of the plot. Any character that reveals information or says anything is because they want to. Some people complain that Ash was acting OOC (Out Of Character). Virtually any fanfic that perpetuates Ash being smarter than his anime counterpart is a OOC version of him.

Wanna know what else makes this different from the anime? There was never a counterpart to Yellow (Riley), Ash never caught Bulbasaur or Aipom this early, Rhys doesn't even exist in the anime, Serena never traveled to Kanto for the sole purpose of finding Ash, nor did she have her mother's Rhyhorn with her, and there's no actual gym in Terracotta Town in the anime. Yet I didn't exactly see too many people or any at all complaining about any of that. What it all boils down to is that there's no strict or set way I should limit this fanfiction to. I like where it's going and I'm going to keep pushing it in that direction. Why should I limit both my and this story's creativity by restricting it so much to stay like the anime? It'd basically just be another anime with minor changes and no one wants to read that.

This story was actually inspired by someone else's rendition of Ash's journey (but was recently taken down for some reason). It draws in _elements_ from the anime, games, and manga. That being said, there's no rule that states the flashback has to be EXACTLY how it was in the anime. I'm perfectly fine with opinions. In fact, I welcome all of them and if you feel that something could have gone better in the story, I'm more than happy to hear it.

But I draw the line when someone tells me how I should be writing my own story. I don't think very many people take too keen to others saying "You need to do this or that to make the story better", rather than the much nicer approach of "I personally prefer this or that or blah blah blah". I started writing this as MY version of Ash's adventures (disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon in any way, shape, or form. All rights reserved to their respected owners. This is for fun.). If you personally believe I'm not writing this story the right way (let me just clarify that there is only one way to write this story, which is my way), the please, show me how to write it by postng a story of your own. Seriously, this isn't sarcasm. I don't write to be the best. I write because I like expressing myself and my creativity and I like to entertain. It's about the only thing I can do when I'm sick.

Also, calling the characters in my story pathetic losers isn't constructive either. If you're reading this just to see Ash deal with Aura powers, then I suggest you leave right now, because the story is about so much more than just that.

**TL;DR:** I love criticism, but only when it's constructive. Telling me things should be a certain way or telling me to just flat out remove a character is NOT constructive by any means. This story is NOT the anime, which means it won't be EXACTLY like it. Little kids can be jerks every now and then. No one is completely good or bad. Basically almost every Ash in a fanfic like this is OOC. These are my ideas for a really good story (again, I do not own Pokemon) and I will execute them the way I wish. I'll take criticism and if something is bad, I will definitely change it. But don't tell me how to write my story based off little evidence and personal preference.

* * *

To Become a Pokémon Master

Rockets in the Sky

Chapter 12

A Fairy In Trouble

"I'm through talking about this. Hand them over. _Now."_ The Rocket Executive said angrily, holding his hand out to receive the target.

Ash clenched the small little Fairy type Pokémon in his arms with Pikachu rushing valiantly to his side, sparking up a storm from his cheeks. "No way! This Pokémon nor its item is yours to take!"

The red-haired Rocket Executive simply let out a small, annoyed sigh and detached a Poké Ball from the belt on his hip. "You're making this much harder than it needs to be. Why do you care about that thing? Its not yours, it hasn't done anything for you since you've gotten it- you know, come to think of it, that Pokémon you're holding in your arms is pretty selfish. It appeared to you out of _its _need and expected _you _to help it. And look where you are now, in some desolate, cold cave running for your life while your friends risk theirs all for a wild Pokémon you _just _met."

The trainer looked down at the little Pokémon in his arms and realized a horrible fact: that Team Rocket operative was right. Even the word _right_ was an understatement. From the time the little Pokémon appeared up until now, things have been nothing but stressful and dangerous for them. None of what happened today has helped him or his friends a single bit as they risked their lives for a Pokémon they didn't even know.

The Rocket Executive's eyes widened, as if he were actually surprised by Ash's action of holding the little Pokémon out in front of him. "You want it?" the boy wistfully said, seeming ready to relinquish all duties of protecting the little Pokémon.

**. . .**

**Earlier that very same day...**

Now accompanied by Serena, Ash and his friends made the walk through Pewter City over to Route 3 as they continued their journey in the world of Pokémon. The bright sun shined on what felt like one of the best days ever for our young heroes.

"I can't believe we got the Boulder Badge." Ash said, nearly being able to contain his excitement from staring at the second badge pinned to the inner lining of his jacket.

Riley began to suddenly furrow his brow at something far ahead. He pointed at it, asking "Hey, what's that?"

However, the three mistook him for talking about the old, rickety wooden sign that stood weakly before them with the words _"Pewter City- Between The Rugged Mountains"_ painted on with gray paint. Scribbled haphazardly underneath the city limit sign in what appeared to be permanent ink was the phrase "Gary was here. Ash is a loser!"

Ash groaned at his rival's childish acts, assuming that he already earned the Boulder Badge and pressed on to Route 3 before any of them did.

Rhys and Serena couldn't help but hold back a small chuckle upon seeing Ash's face turn red with embarrassment and anger. Riley, on the other hand, was off down the path, seemingly searching for something. Ash and the others took notice of this and went to go help him.

"Hey, Riley, what are you looking for?" Ash said as he watched the young boy rummage through the bushes as if it was his backpack or sock drawer.

"Something's here..." Riley said. "I can feel it. I think it's a Pokémon that's hurt."

Ash dropped to his knees and began searching alongside his friend. "Well in that case, let's find it!"

Serena and Rhys also began to help search for anything that could look like an injured Pokémon. So far, unfortunately, no one came across anything that would even point to a Pokémon being in that are. Of course this only made the feeling Riley had grow bigger and caused him to search more.

Through no fault of his own, Ash split two large branches of a bush apart and a small, rock Pokémon with crystals embedded in its body flew from it. The rock Pokémon smacked him hard in the head, causing him to yell out in pain and topple over from the impact. As he sat up, holding his cranium in aching pain, his eyes opened to see the small Pokémon nuzzled in his chest with tears streaming down its eyes. Its poor little body shook and it looked as if it had just seen a ghost.

"_Carbink, the Jewel Pokémon. Born from extreme temperatures and high pressures underground, it is able to fire beams from the stone on its head when feeling threatened. They are said to sleep underground since their birth and is occasionally found during excavations in caves."_

"So, you're a Carbink..." Ash said, wrapping his arms around the Jewel Pokémon and holding it tightly. "It's okay, you're safe now. Can you tell me what happened?"

Serena bent over and picked up an odd rock that looked like somewhat like a crystallized flower and showed it to the gang. "Hey guys, I think that Carbink dropped this when it flew out of the bushes."

The wild Carbink suddenly looked up, appearing to be excited about something as it nearly shot out of Ash's arms at the sight of the rock. Ash took the flower into his hand and it began to slowly unfold, as if a flower were quickly blossoming right before their eyes. The rock emitted a bright light and began to play out a spectacle before them, much like whenever Riley connects with a Pokémon.

That small, insignificant-looking rock told them a tale. A tale of the wild Carbink playing happily with its friends in some not-so-far-off land. But then, disaster struck when bandits dressed in black with a large, red "R" on their dark uniforms appeared, being led by a red-haired devil, and viciously attacked them. One by one, the devastation of the Jewel Pokémon's friends continued through the cattle prods and Brick Break's to their little bodies. Each one of them cried out in a horrible pain that ripped the young children's hearts to pieces. It looked like the lowly men were searching for a specific Carbink or at least something the Carbink had, but didn't seem to find it through the repulsive torture they performed. All that remained was the Carbink that sat in Ash's arms, hiding from them in a nearby bush, praying to Arceus that they wouldn't find it. Once it saw that the their backs were turned, the little Jewel Pokémon floated away as fast as it could. The vision ended there.

Serena could only sit there, tears streaming wildly down her eyes, shaking slightly at the horrible sight that was just before her eyes. "Wh- who were those people? Who would do such a terrible thing?!"

"Team Rocket," Ash uttered in anger as he held his downward, being weighed down by the dark actions that haunted him in Viridian City. "They're a no-good crime organization that steal and hurt Pokémon, owned and wild alike."

Serena could see the boy's anger in his face and was frightened by it.

"Well, it looks like we're a little famous." a voice said, sending chills down everyone's spines as they turned around to see the red-haired devil that led the mass terrorist attack on the group of Jewel Pokémon with a crooked, evil smile that could freeze you in place it was so cold and hellish. The crooked criminal, not even seeming to be much older than Rhys, who was eleven, was shadowed by a large group of equally-as-menacing grunts, some of them even being recognizable right away from the vision. "Now, I'd really rather not get anymore blood on my hands today. I've got plans tonight, so let's make this easy. Hand us the Carbink and I swear on my fraudulent life that no harm will come to you. … well, not _that _much harm, anyway."

Ash stood up with his friends, clenching the little Pokémon tight in his arms and growling at his enemies. "We're not giving _anything _ to the likes of you!"

The Rocket Executive let out an annoyed groan and snapped his fingers. About four or five of the many shifty goons walked forward and surrounded them, all with Poké Balls in their hands, ready to pulverize the children. "I'll only ask one more time. Please, hand over that Carbink. Or else my men here will have to teach you a lesson in why you should obey."

Rhys stepped forward and whispered back to the three "When I give the signal, you guys get out of here, alright? I'll handle them.". The three nodded and prepared themselves to run for their lives. "Mienfoo, use Stone Edge!"

Mienfoo voluntarily broke free from his Poké Ball and smashed sharp stones in the ground all around them, kicking up all sorts of dust and smoke.

"Now!" Mienfoo's trainer yelled.

Ash, Riley, and Serena tore through the crowd of stunned grunts and ran as fast as their legs could carry them down Route 3.

"After them." the Rocket Executive commanded as he, along with the rest of the grunts, minus the ones that surrounded them earlier, gave chase to the three small children. Right as the grunts that formed the wall around them tried to leave, Rhys stepped in front of them and spread his arms outward, blocking their pathway.

"You lot aren't going anywhere while I'm breathing." Rhys growled.

Ash and his two friends kept running until suddenly, a large, sunflower-like Pokémon appeared from the bushes and spun, whipping up a large blizzard of sharp flower petals that erupted in front of the kids, halting them. As the blizzard continued to block the path in front of them, four more of the same Pokémon, along with a few Beedrill quickly blocked off any chances of escaping. Serena and Riley both clung to Ash's arms, shaking with fear.

"_Sunflora, the Sun Pokémon. As the hot sun approached, the petals on this Pokémon's head become more vivid and lively. They are known for their cheerful nature and always staying in pursuit of the sun."_

But these Sunflora looked anything but lively as they glared at the children with their Beedrill partners. Numerous grunts appeared as owners of the Pokémon with sadistic grins on their faces and began ordering attack after attack.

"Pikachu, Thunder Shock counter shield!" Ash quickly yelled.

Pikachu flew off his trainer's shoulders and spun on his back, wildly flinging bolts of electricity that repelled the many Razor Leaf and Poison Sting attacks that headed right for them. Seeing Ash's courage, Serena maximized two Poké Balls and called forth her Rhyhorn and a small, yellow fox with red fur coming out of its ears, Fennekin.

"Ash, Riley, you two go on! We'll hold them off as long as we can!" Serena yelled with her two Pokémon roaring with power.

Ash and Riley nodded, quickly getting ready to go, but were immediately stopped by another Sunflora ripping another Petal Blizzard attack at them, to which Serena ordered a Fire Spin attack. The tornado of fire collided with the blizzard of petals and erupted in a magnificent flare, burning every single one of the sharp leaves and trapping the attacking Sunflora within a spinning cycle of fire. The two boys quickly took their chance and bolted down the pathway with Riley staying as close to Ash as possible. Cries and shouts of the grunts, Serena, and Rhys echoed through the large valley.

The two boys came across a large cave know as Mt. Moon and quickly ran inside of it. The cave was tall with glimmering, gray shards of rock sticking out of its walls. A large path stood before them as the two hastily ran up. No sounds nor signs of Team Rocket were seen or heard, but the two couldn't stop running. Their hearts pounded against their chests as they reached a clearing on top of the cave and fell to the grass beneath them, completely exhausted and void of any energy they had left.

"D- Did we escape them?" Riley asked through his large breaths, gasping for air.

"I think so..." Ash nodded as he rolled over on his back with Carbink still in his arms.

Riley began suddenly screaming in horrific pain as his body convulsed momentarily, then fell motionless with his eyes slowly closing. Ash crawled over to him in a panic and shook the boy's unconscious body. Looking up, he saw the red-haired devil remove a cattle prod from Riley's side and immediately screamed, rolling back and up on his feet.

"What's your guys' problem?!" Ash screamed as he saw his friend lay hurt on the ground, twitching slightly every now and then.

The Executive simply shrugged his shoulders and put the cattle prod away in his pocket. "My mom's been wondering the same thing."

"Why do you guys even want this Carbink anyway?! What could've it done to make you torture its friends until you found it?!"

The Executive put his hands on his hips, looking slightly disappointed. "Well, you see, this is where the luck of the draw comes in. We needed to find _that _Carbink in particular because we received information that it may have been holding something valuable in its possession. Which it was." The boy pointed to the flower-like rock sticking out of Ash's pocket. "See that? That's called a Time Flower. It can record physical events and save them like a computer to be played back. That Carbink holds a special link with what we're looking for. Unfortunately, we had no way of telling which Carbink had the flower. Pfft, if we knew what it was made out of, we would've been able to just create our own or at least make a scanner to find one, but since we couldn't, we just had to play the elimination game."

"All of this for a stupid flower?!"

The red-haired boy shook his head. "Not just any flower, but a flower connected to the Tree of Beginning."

"The Tree of... Beginning?" Ash tilted his head in confusion with a furrow of his brow.

"I'm through talking about this. Hand them over. _Now."_ The Rocket Executive said angrily, holding his hand out to receive the target.

Ash clenched the small little Fairy type Pokémon in his arms with Pikachu rushing valiantly to his side, sparking up a storm from his cheeks. "No way! This Pokémon nor its item is yours to take!"

The red-haired Rocket Executive simply let out a small, annoyed sigh and detached a Poké Ball from the belt on his hip. "You're making this much harder than it needs to be. Why do you care about that thing? Its not yours, it hasn't done anything for you since you've gotten it- you know, come to think of it, that Pokémon you're holding in your arms is pretty selfish. It appeared to you out of _its _need and expected _you _to help it. And look where you are now, in some desolate, cold cave running for your life while your friends risk theirs all for a wild Pokémon you _just _met."

The trainer looked down at the little Pokémon in his arms and realized a horrible fact: that Team Rocket operative was right. Even the word _right_ was an understatement. From the time the little Pokémon appeared up until now, things have been nothing but stressful and dangerous for them. None of what happened today has helped him or his friends a single bit as they risked their lives for a Pokémon they didn't even know.

The Rocket Executive's eyes widened, as if he were actually surprised by Ash's action of holding the little Pokémon out in front of him. "You want it?" the boy wistfully said, seeming ready to relinquish all duties of protecting the little Pokémon.

"..."

"Come and pry it from my dead arms, you freak." Ash spat.

"I thought we could avoid this conflict..." the Executive sighed, maximizing a Poké Ball in his hand. He looked up menacingly at Ash with a cold expression on his face. "I guess I could see I was wrong. Sneasel, get them."

The ball was tossed in the air, releasing a black creature with a devilish grin and razor sharp claws that looked sharp enough to stab through metal.

"_Sneasel, the Sharp Claw Pokémon. Its paws conceal very sharp claws that can extend to startle its enemy. They're then used to rip through vulnerable spots on prey. These Pokémon usually feed on stolen eggs from nests."_

Right as Ash was about to call his Aipom out, Carbink ripped from his arms and took its spot on the battlefield, ready to fight for the people that have done nothing but protect its life. "Carbink... Alright, I choose you! Use Tackle!"

The Jewel Pokémon launched itself at the Sharp Claw Pokémon, but it easily evaded and by the order of its cold hearted trainer, delivered a nasty Crush Claw to its back, exposing a weak spot and lowering its defense.

"Carbink, use Harden!" Ash yelled.

Before Carbink hit the wall, it managed to tense its muscles and harden its body to raise its defense.

"Use Ice Punch."

"Rock Throw!"

Sneasel tore at his foe. Carbink quickly floated out of the way, causing Sneasel to punch the wall with a powerful ice-infused fist and to get hit by a small rock thrown by the Jewel Pokémon. The Sharp Claw Pokémon began trying to free its fist from the wall, but found it to be trapped deep within it.

"Hurry, while its trapped, keep using Rock Throw!"

Carbink hurled rock after rock at Sneasel as he tried to reclaim his fist from the mountain, but it proved to be no use. Soon, the damage began adding up and he began to feel the pain of being blitzed with rocks continuously.

"Now, use Dazzling Gleam!"

The Jewel Pokémon fired a pink, bright beam that struck Sneasel for a super-effective hit, causing a massive explosion of energy. So big in fact, that Rhys and Serena turned and saw it from where they were standing, having just finished defeating their opponents. The Sharp Claw Pokémon fell to the ground, defeated.

The Rocket Executive returned his Pokémon with a disappointed groan and whipped out his cattle prod again. As he began making his way toward Carbink, Ash screamed. The executive was suddenly knocked off his feet and sent flying toward the wall, as if some unseen force pushed him into it. The trainer gasped as he saw that neither of them had done anything to push him into it. All Ash did was just yell. "All units..." the Rocket Executive said into his small communicator device, slowly getting up in obvious pain. "Retreat at once. I repeat, retreat at once!"

Ash rushed to Riley's side, watching the executive slowly limp away. The young boy began to wake up, still with a slight twitch. His eyes opened slowly to see himself in his idol's arms. Muffled voices of a very excited girl and boy were the last thing he heard before fading out of consciousness again.

**. . .**

It wasn't until later that night that Riley woke up, finding himself in a hospital bed. His friends quickly rushed to his side upon seeing his eyes open and smiled happily at him, hugging him tightly.

"You're awake!" Ash said happily.

"What happened?" Riley said, grabbing his side and wincing in pain.

"That Team Rocket idiot got you with a cattle prod. But don't worry, me and Carbink got him." Ash smiled. "I'm glad you're okay!"

"Me too!" Riley agreed, looking around the white hospital room he sat in. "So where am I?"

Rhys pulled out a small device and tapped on it. The screen shined and he stared at it briefly. "We're in the Pokémon Center just outside Mt. Moon, looks like it."

Rattata, Caterpie, and Dedenne all climbed up on the bed with Riley, happy to see their trainer was safe. He was certainly happy to see that they were safe as well, having taken shelter underneath his straw hat the whole time.

The four young children slept the night away, eager to get their adventure back on the road tomorrow. But it wasn't an easy night for all of them. Young Riley reportedly tossed and turned in his sleep all night with nightmares of the Team Rocket Executive stabbing him with the cattle prod again. Nonetheless, everyone made it through the night safe and sound and resumed their journey the next day, mid afternoon after enjoying a big breakfast and some relaxation. The next destination on the map was Rota.

"To Rota!" they all cheered.


	13. An Ancient Power

To Become a Pokémon Master

Rockets in the Sky

Chapter 13

An Ancient Power

(Short Premonition to _"Lucario and the Mystery of Mew"_)

"So we're in agreement?" the shaky fossil maniac said as he adjusted his wide frame glasses at the young trainer.

Ash nodded as Pikachu took his place on the battlefield, sparks flying from his cheeks as usual. "Agreed. Whoever wins the battle gets the Old Amber, Helix Fossil, and Dome Fossil."

We rejoin our young heroes as they make their way through a rocky gorge that leads up to Rota. Ash found a peculiar lump of rock that turned out to be the fossilized remains of a large Pokémon that conquered the skies long ago. It was then that a man, slender in figure and shady in stance, appeared out of the blue in a crazed manner and begged Ash for the Old Amber. Having been the one to have first laid eyes on it, Ash refused, to which the man, whose name was Troy, challenged Ash to a battle, also putting up the two fossils, the Helix and Dome fossils he found earlier, as bait to lure the boy in. How will this turn out?

Troy smile grew as shifty as his stance. During that time, a Poké Ball was quickly maximized in his hand and tossed out on the field, calling forth an odd, cat-like Pokémon with ears that folded over.

"_Espurr, the Restraint Pokémon. The organ that emits its intense psychic power is sheltered by its ears in order to keep it from leaking out. It has enough energy to blast everything within a 300 feet radius, but has little to no control over its power."_

"That Pokémon... something's... off about it." Ash said as he slowly closed his Pokédex and put it back into his pocket. "Pikachu, be careful. This could get tough."

It wasn't just Ash that had the feeling of foreboding- Rhys admitted to never seeing an Espurr like that before. Serena and Riley both stood behind Rhys and his Mienfoo, not even being able to take a step closer toward the odd Pokémon.

The Restraint Pokémon looked at Pikachu with big, glossy eyes that looked so bloodshot that there was a high possibility it had either been straining its eyes or shooting up. It looked as if no one was home in the mind of Espurr except its dark, impure thoughts that made both Ash and his Pokémon shudder. He could feel the Poké Balls attached to his belt quivering with unnerving frighten.

Then the battle began. "Pikachu, use Quick Attack!" Ash yelled.

Pikachu charged at his increasingly odd foe, but was brought to a screeching halt inches before him as the opponent appeared to have no intention of dodging. Both he and his trainer found it strange that Espurr wasn't even given an order, let alone didn't try to at least react by itself.

Espurr just kept standing there, motionless. Chills wouldn't have gone down their spines were it not for the fact that its trainer assumed the _exact _same position as it did, as if they were mirror images of each other.

"You know..." Ash suddenly shivered slightly as Pikachu returned to his trainer's side. "Maybe we'll just go..."

Troy suddenly gained a sneer on his face that meant nothing good as he yelled "Espurr, open your ears!"

The small Pokémon's ears slowly opened. Before anyone could even anticipate the large explosion that ruptured the canyon, they were blinded by a blinding light. Everyone felt a powerful force press against their bodies, squishing their organs together and throwing them all to the ground like rag dolls. The screams were no longer high pitched, but now low and distorted, blood-curdling as the children felt a odd, metal-tasting liquid explode from their mouths at once, toppling over on themselves and convulsing wildly on the ground.

Troy let out a low, menacing laugh as he commanded his Espurr to retrieve both the Old Amber and everyone's Pokémon with a Confusion attack. He returned an Abra that used Protect to shield him from the blast back to its Poké Ball. The psychic power brought the man's new possessions to him and he scurried away, leaving the children on the now destroyed ground with blood slowly leaking from their mouths, covered in terrible wounds and countless bruises. Now having added not only an Old Amber, but a Pikachu, Fennekin, Mienfoo, Dedenne, and many other Pokémon to his collection, the man could chuckle wildly as he ran down the canyon.

Suddenly, Ash convulsed slightly. The heartbeat returned to his body and pounded against his chest wildly. He rose as an odd, blue power enveloped him. His wounds began healing, the blood disappeared from his mouth, and shattered bones put themselves back together.

"_Ash, can you hear me? Your powers... they've been dormant inside you for a long time, but now you must harness them, save your friends, and take back what is rightfully yours! Become one with the aura!"_

Ash's eyes opened as a renewed breath escaped from his body. A mysterious power overcame the boy as he roared mightily, shaking the remains of the destroyed canyon all around him. Blue waves of energy erupted from the ground and up into the sky. "Give... back..." he started to say in a low voice. He suddenly began dashing toward the man, murmuring "Give... back..." His friend's wounds and pain also began to disappear from their bodies, but they did not rise like he did. The land began to repair itself, spreading a renewing, fixing energy throughout it.

Troy turned around from his evil cackling with eyes widened so much that they nearly fell out of their sockets. No matter how much faster the shifty man ran, he found the distance between him and the monster that chased him to be closing extremely fast.

"Give... back...!"

The shifty fossil maniac stopped, knees shaking and fear vomit on his white lab coat. "Espurr, open your ears again!" He quickly summoned his Abra to use Protect.

Espurr opened its ears, releasing another horrible blast of psychic energy out into the world. Ash's arm went up and struck the blast back, causing the energy that had expanded outward to begin compressing into compact orb of energy in front of him. Right as the ball of contained energy shrunk to its smallest size, it exploded in a contained area around Ash, not damaging the earth below him. Through the smoke that rose from the child's body that had just taken the blast, white eyes glared brightly through it straight at Troy.

"Give... back... _OUR... FRIENDS!" _The monster spoke in a low, distorted voice as he rose like a god from the smoke and stared down at the insignificant sack of human flesh. For the Chosen One had spoken his will that should be carried out, but the man denied the god.

"N- no!" The cowardly pawn detested. The god looked down at him with increasing anger and spoke his will once again.

"Give back our friends RIGHT NOW." He commanded. But the foolish coward did not obey, to which he was to suffer the god's wrath. The vindictive god saw the man's essence, and he bent it and twisted it to his will, much like the psychic power of his lackey twisted them. "You will suffer just as we have. A year of pain shall be cast down upon you for every wrongdoing you have committed." With a single swipe of his arm, the god sent the worthless offender and his lowly subject back to the slimy pits of Hell that it crawled out of. All that was left behind were Pikachu, Mienfoo, along with the other Pokémon that he had robbed them of, the Helix Fossil, the Dome Fossil, and the Old Amber.

The god collapsed to the ground as his power escaped him.

**. . .**

"Ash!" the voices of his friends called him. He could feel his body being shaken violently as he awoke to see the three hovering over him with worried expressions on their faces, but seeming to calm down and smile upon him sitting up.

"Ash!" Riley hugged his idol tightly, as did Pikachu, Serena, and Rhys. "Are you okay?!" the young boy asked.

Ash nodded his head slowly, confused as to what was going on. "Why wouldn't I be okay?"

"Well," Rhys said as he stood up. "We were all walking and you had the Old Amber in your hands, but then suddenly you just disappeared."

"Our Pokémon vanished too!" Riley added on. "We searched around hours for you until we found you all here!"

Serena picked up the two odd rocks that sat on the ground in front of the confused trainer, having not previously been in his possession. "What are these?" she asked.

Rhys looked over and examined them carefully. "I believe these are the Helix and Dome fossils. Where did you find these?"

Ash simply shrugged his shoulders, clueless as to how he even wound up in the spot he was in. "I thought I was taking a nap or something."

It seemed as if none of them had the faintest idea of what took place hours ago- the fossil maniac Troy and his frighteningly powerful Espurr, Ash's ascension to a form far beyond any other human could ever even begin to imagine reaching, the banishment of the lowly Troy, the casting of one year of pain per swindle- none of it seemed to even come to their minds. Not even a little bit.

However, there was one word, one recurring word that wouldn't leave Ash's tongue no matter how hard he tried to not think about it.

"_Aura..."_


	14. Lucario and the Mystery of Mew

To Become a Pokémon Master

Chapter 14 Special

_Lucario and the Mystery of Mew_

The smell of the makings of a bloody war in the hazy, morning air stung Lucario's nose like a horrible incent. Skies of yore that were once blue and dotted with fluffy clouds had churned into an ugly gray with bolts of lightning raining down on the world. Sheer cliffs that Lucario stood upon gave him the perfect view of two large kingdoms on both sides of the Cameran Kingdom mustering their horrendously large and vicious armies at their gates. In between them stood the Cameran Kingdom and the Tree of Beginning, one home to many innocent people and the other home to many innocent Pokémon.

The time to intervene was nigh as Lucario jumped off the cliff and onto the ground below him. As he landed, he was met by three Machamp from one of the rivaling kingdoms. One of the Superpower Pokémon took hold of Lucario with its four arms and allowed the other two to wind up Mega Punches. Seeing the attacks coming right for him, the Aura Warrior turned his calm aura into an outward shockwave that at once freed him from the enemy's grasp and blew them away.

As the Machamp began to retreat, an enemy Excadrill, who was able to feel the struggle from underground, drilled upward and struck at Lucario with its mighty horn. However, the warrior had already seen the Pokémon's aura well before the battle began and managed to perform a perfectly executed dodge roll to avoid it. However, he failed to anticipate the Subterrene Pokémon's back-up plan of wrapping around it and using a Mud Slap attack. The murky substance splashed in Lucario's eyes, causing him to scream in pain as a terrible burning sensation pained him so much that he had to close his eyes.

Upon closing his eyes, he could see everything that stood before him in complicated waves of aura. The trees, the cliff he stood on moments ago, the fleeing enemy, the one enemy that stood before him- all of it had aura. It was as if the warrior's eyes were completely open as he fired an Aura Sphere that landed a flawless hit and sent the opponent scurrying away.

Lucario turned around and saw the large rock formation off in the distance known as the Tree of Beginning still safe and sound as he liked. But he knew that would change soon. He knew that once the humans and their Pokémon slaves began their meaningless war, both it and the Cameran Kingdom would be no more. Hoping to change what he thought was inevitable, Lucario took off toward the tree with blinding speed.

"Lucario!" a man dressed in blue yelled from behind the Pokémon. Lucario looked back to see the man with a staff in his hand, following just inches behind him. "Hold, for I have important news of the palace!"

Lucario did as instructed from the man and held his place. "Yes, Master?"

Sir Aaron held his down, reluctant to speak what was dangling off the tip of his tongue. What he was about to say would change the course of history forever, as he opened his mouth and spoke the words "I have betrayed Queen Cameran and the entire kingdom and have been thrown from my position as Aura Guardian."

The Aura Pokémon's eyes widened at such an outlandish claim from his amiable master. Never before would he have thought those words would come out of that man's mouth, or anyone's mouth for that matter. "What are these foolish words you speak?!"

Only the apology of "I'm sorry, my friend…" escaped the man's lips before a flash of aura escaped from his fingertips. The aura shot into Lucario's chest and froze his joints stiff to the point of silence. The Aura Pokémon's body became enveloped in a strange light as he felt his body separating into little orbs of energy that flew into the tip of the staff. Aaron let go as the staff shook wildly with attempts from Lucario to break free, but soon it seemed to allay. It plunged lifelessly to the ground, casting a reflection of the man's miserable face back up at him.

With a sharp whistle, a Pidgeot swooped down and grabbed the staff, transporting far off behind the man. Aaron closed his eyes and placed the tips of his fingers down to the rich soil of the world. He could feel it quiver under the march of soldiers and Pokémon alike, all ready to cleave one another in half with no intent of mercy. The skies began to fill with screams and blood as the thousand year war begun.

**. . .**

_**Many MANY millennia later…**_

A sinister sundown casted on the city of Rota as two trainers began to face off in the arena. One of them, some trainer from a far off land, and the other, a young, ten-year-old boy with hopes of becoming a Pokémon Master whose name was Ash Ketchum. Both trainers, much to their delight, were able to dress up in clothing that people of ancient times would wear. Ash took to dressing himself in garments similar to the legendary Sir Aaron, which included a mostly blue uniform with a blue hat, while the other trainer resembled that of a lowly peasant.

The referee stepped into the ring and waved his arms up. "Let the Aura Festival Tournament begin!"

A crowd of thousands, nearly a million people, roared in utter excitement as the two trainers began their fierce battle. Among the crowd were Ash's friends, Riley, the Child of Viridian Forest, Serena, the girl who journeyed from Kalos just to see him, and Rhys, a kindhearted boy, but not much was known about his past.

Order after order was called out between Ash and his opponent. Aipom threw powerful punches and scratched with sharp claws while the enemy, a Bayleef, whipped razor edged leaves and tackled with her hard body. It was a tough battle, but Ash managed to come out victorious and proceeded to move onto the second round.

Surprisingly, Ash's childhood friend and current rival, Gary, even took to participating in the tournament. Unfortunately, they ran out of men's clothes and he was forced to dress up as Queen Cameran, to which he couldn't stand. Due to the fact that he had to wear such a dreadful outfit, he was quickly taken out in the first round by a woman and her Weavile. This was mainly due to him not having his eye on the battle, but focusing more on how excruciatingly hot it was to be in the dress. He unsheathed the get-up as soon as possible and went to join Ash's friends in the crowd. But of course cheering his rival on is completely unacceptable Gary Oak behavior.

Flag after flag was raised in victory for a trainer as the tournament quickly progressed to the final round. Ash, much to Gary's surprise, made it to the final round and took his place in the arena. His opponent would be a woman in a lovely who entered by the name of "Kidd". The sour taste of defeat stung the boy's tongue as he realized it was the same person he'd lost to in the very first round.

As the referee allowed the battle to begin, Ash called upon his trusty friend Pikachu and she, her Weavile. The Mouse Pokémon was told to release a Thunder Shock attack, but suddenly began to feel his electricity run up to the tip of his tail. The energy expanded into an outward force, creating an orb of electricity and he hurled it at his unsuspecting opponent, landing the first hit with the newly-learned Electro Ball attack. The Sharp Claw Pokémon quickly recovered from the surprising blast and raked her foe with claws imbued with shadowy power. Pikachu flew back, but let another Electro Ball rip before hitting the ground. Weavile, fully aware of the new attack, met the attack with an icy wind blown from her mouth. The two moves met in the middle of the arena and exploded with power. In an instant, Pikachu dashed through the smoke with a Quick Attack and slammed his opponent all the way into the wall. As the Mouse Pokémon backed off, he suddenly found himself frozen with an Ice Beam attack at point blank range. Hope began to dwindle for Ash, but his Pokémon managed to break free with a powerful Electro Ball that smacked into Weavile and managing to knock it out, declaring Ash the winner of the Aura Festival Tournament.

The great descendant to the throne of the Cameran Palace, Queen Cameran the Forty-Fifth, descended from her seat high above the arena and met the winner down on the field in person. Her appearance, Ash thought, was quite stunning. The woman was wearing a beautiful, azure-blue dress with sapphires that sparked in the afternoon sun as she approached him. Her porcelain white shoes clicked with an almost satisfying sound with every step. And her face left the young boy nearly speechless. Such deep, blue eyes that made him feel like he was looking straight into a large, shallow pond with beautiful water and the original Queen of Cameran Palace wading in its shores and lips so red and gorgeous that he just wanted to stand up on his toes and kiss her threw his heart into a frenzy. "Ash…" she spoke. Her voice was loud enough so that in the dead of the silence from the crowd, everyone was able to hear her, yet so quiet that his ears felt blessed to have heard such a delicate voice. "As winner of the Aura Festival Tournament, I would like to officially crown you as Guardian of the Year." The woman presented his with an ancient, rusty staff. As he accepted it, he immediately felt by its now softened metal that he needed to take extra care when handling it. Once the staff was in his hands and he opened his mouth to thank her, he looked down and noticed that she had taken to bowing in his presence. The crowd went absolutely mad for the winner and Queen Cameran took him by the hand, escorting him off the arena.

**. . .**

Later that night, Queen Cameran stood in the ballroom at the head of many invited guests and delivered the welcoming speech. "Hello to you all, many that have traveled far and wide, and welcome to the Aura Festival Ball. On behalf of myself and everyone who resides within the kingdom, we are honored to have to here on such a wondrous day. Today is the day that long ago, Sir Aaron gave his life to protect everything that you see here today. We pay great homage to him by recognizing a guardian each year who has claimed victory in the tournament to lead us in a dance of his honor!"

As the crowd stood in waiting, nothing seemed to happen. Queen Cameran grew slightly distressed by that fact and looked over at the winner of the festival who was sitting in Sir Aaron's seat right behind her in the very front of the ballroom. Ash quickly looked up at her and realized she meant for him to stand he did, taking extreme care to not break the staff, with Pikachu by his side.

But he only stood there, which made the queen even more distressed. She raised an eyebrow at the boy, trying to signal to him that he should probably say something, but she knew that went straight over his head as he stood there smiling like a goof. She quickly cleared her throat and repeated her last sentence, enunciating and stressing not all, but just a few certain words… _"__**WE PAY GREAT HOMAGE TO HIM BY RECOGNIZING A GUARDIAN EACH YEAR WHO HAS CLAIMED VICTORY IN THE TOURNAMENT TO LEAD US IN A DANCE OF HIS HONORRRRRR!"**_

"Oh!" Ash said, flashing his silly smile and embarrassingly scratching the back of his head. "As the new Guardian for a Year, let the dancing begin!"

The music, a soft, quiet melody was played by a small group of violinists, adding harmony a few Kricketune rubbing their blades together and a Jigglypuff, Blissey, Plusle, Minun, and Minccino humming beautifully to the music. Many of the patrons and people began to slowly dance as gracefully as they possibly could around the dance floor. The lights flickered down slightly and the smallest of Joltik shot a tiny, electrical shock on the chandelier that made it sparkle elegantly as people danced underneath it. It was as if the room was filled with stars.

However, there was one part of the room that wasn't so filled with stars. It was more like star-struck as Ash's eyes immediately fixed themselves on Serena in a lovely pink dress with her honey-colored hair flowing down to her shoulders slow-dancing with that wretched Gary Oak in a stupid-looking suit and tie. The boy nearly bolted up from his seat, but was quickly pushed back down by the queen's grandmother, Lady Cameran the Fourth-Third. Sparks began to fly from Pikachu's cheeks, but both he and his trainer quickly saw that was a mistake. "Now, now!" she said in a harsh, shrill voice, much unlike her granddaughter's. Ash's ears quickly got the message that her voice was _not _to be blessed by. "As Guardian of the Year, you must sit up here and watch the event! You are not allowed to leave your seat to preform duties that are unbefitting to a guardian such as dancing."

"But ma'am," Ash started, trying to get a word in edgewise. "You don't understand! Gary is-"

"Young man if you don't stop such jejune behavior at this second my foot will be so far up your butt that it'll be your new brain and that'll be the only thing _you _understand. Are we clear?"

Ash quickly sat back in his seat out of fear of losing his brain and unenthusiastically watched the spectacle of him possibly losing a chance with Serena unfold before his very eyes.

"So," Gary Oak said as his hands were around Serena's hips, guiding her across the dance floor in a beautiful slow-dance. "It's finally nice to see you again after all these years…" he smiled. "You've gotten way prettier."

Serena looked away with her hand placed over her mouth, giggling like an idiotic school girl as her face turned a bright red. "Why thank you. You certainly have gotten… handsomer." She said as she quickly looked him up and down. Her partner began to grow a smile on his face that made her heart scream "He's such a hottie!"

Over at the food table, too young to dance with anyone there, Riley sat in his suit that was forced onto him by one of the staff, much to his disdain, and pecked away at cheese squares with his Pokémon friends, Rattata, Caterpie, and Dedenne. The Pokémon, however, seemed to be having fun as they gorged themselves on delicious food that could not be found anywhere else. The cheesiest of cheese squares, the richest of crackers, the most decadent of meats, and the juiciest of vegetables and fruit- they were having the time of their lives.

Rhys, however, was standing off far in the distance, leaning up against the wall. This was a bit unusual for him as he was the most social out of Ash and his friends. If not the most social then at least the most courageous. It seemed as if he was deliberately choosing not to get himself involved with any of the events that were taking place. But why? Had someone said something mean to hurt him? Did he hurt his ankle? Was he holding in a really big poo and didn't want to do the embarrassing poo-waddle? To this day, no one really knows why he chose not to participate.

Ash began to grow tired of having to sit there and watch his potential girlfriend be swept off her feet by some other man. _ESPECIALLY GARY OAK._ As he shifted forward to make another effort to stand up, he was stopped by an odd, echoing voice calling out to him.

"_Traitor…"_ the voice growled.

The guardian and his Mouse Pokémon looked around, but saw no one facing him or near him. He tapped on the grandmother's shoulder and asked if she heard anything, but she simply shook her head. Then the voice happened again…

"_Aaron…" _the voice now roared loudly, echoing throughout the room. Everyone stopped, surprised by the sudden outburst, and turned to Ash with shocked expressions on their faces. The staff suddenly began shaking violently. The guardian relinquished his hold of it. Beams of light began to pierce through the delicate object as it cracked and burst open, enveloping the entire room in a blinding light.

Ash unshielded his eyes to see a blue, human-like Pokémon kneeling in front of him with its eyes shut tightly. The room fell quiet as it spoke to him with a strange power that projected its voice into the entire room. Bright streaks of blue pierced through the staff and took shape in the form of a Pokémon that knelt before the boy with its eyes closed shut.

"Queen Cameran… Sir Aaron…" the Pokémon spoke.

A strange, red energy began swirling about in Ash's hands. He gasped at the sight of it, but for some reason, he felt the energy pull himself toward the unidentified Pokémon. It was almost as if the energy wanted him to touch it, but Ash resisted the temptation and held his ground as the Pokémon continued to speak.

"Aura… Who are you…?" the creature asked. "I can feel it… We have met before…"

Ash began to grow increasingly uneasy at the creature's words. The energy in his hands began to flow faster.

"… No… You are not the one…" the creature growled angrily. The hairs on its body began to stand as its black paws became enveloped in an odd, blue energy. "But your aura reads just like his… it must be you…"

Ash gritted his teeth as he gave up possession of his Poké Balls and Pikachu to Serena as she quickly retrieved them and ran back to Gary's side.

"Why aren't you him…?" The creature's voice began to grow low and dragged out. "Sir… Aar… on…" It soon became clear who the Pokémon mistook Ash to be. "Sir… Aaron…" The Pokémon slowly rose to its feet with powerful energy coursing through its body. "Sir Aaron!" Without any warning, the Pokémon charged at the guardian with his eyes wide open. It was only then that it could see Ash was not the person it originally thought him to be as it stopped just centimeters away from the young boy's face.

The red energy that once swirled in the boy's hands erupted from all parts of his body uncontrollably in a large, red barrier that encapsulated himself within it. As the Pokémon's fist was within the barrier, the energy spun around and engulfed it, pushing it back through the wall with a powerful blast and sending it flying out into the garden. Ash and early everyone in the palace was in complete shock of what happened.

Suddenly, Gary could feel a green energy taking form in the tips of his fingers. He raised his hand up and called out to Ash, but along with the yell, fired small blast of the green energy from his fingertips that struck Ash and sent him flying in a completely different direction than the odd Pokémon.

Mass hysteria and panic rang out as people began to flee the area in an unorganized mess. Tables were turned over, food was trampled, and dresses were stepped on in an effort to get the Giratina out of that room.

Queen Cameran stood up and roared "That's enough!" Pink energy shot from her fingers in three separate directions, one at Gary, and the other two at Ash and the weird Pokémon. It stopped as it reached their bodies and trapped them inside a large, pink orb that traveled to her.

"Agh!" Gary yelled, trying to break free.

"What is this?" Ash said as he was brought back into the room, also trapped in a pink sphere.

"Queen Cameran! I request of you to let me go at once! A traitor is on the loose and the kingdom is under attack!" the Pokémon screamed, writhing inside of the pink sphere.

Queen Cameran let out a long sigh and turned to the blue Pokémon. "Lucario…" she called it in a sad voice. "I'm afraid that isn't the case anymore…"

Lucario looked obviously confused as he still tried to force his way out.

"Lucario, please, listen to me." The queen begged of him. "You've been asleep for thousands of years… the kingdom isn't in any danger anymore."

The Aura Pokémon stopped his struggle, his paws falling to his side, and a pale expression washing over his face. "I… what?" he stammered, unable to believe the statement he was told.

"Sir Aaron, he sealed you in the staff when he left to go save the kingdom and stop the war. He's passed on and so has the Queen Cameran of your time…"

"I kindly ask you to not use that monster's name around me." Lucario growled, giving a glare to Queen Cameran.

"Monster?" Queen Cameran questioned.

"Wait…" Ash cut in. "Sir Aaron was a hero. He saved this place."

"So how could he be a monster?" Gary asked.

"I told you to _stop using that name in my presence."_ Lucario roared at them. Blue energy flared from his paws like a raging fire, but quickly died down once he looked back at Queen Cameran.

Lady Cameran approached her granddaughter and tapped for her attention on her shoulder. "Don't you think you've held these three long enough?"

Queen Cameran nodded in agreement and released the three from their pink, spherical imprisonment.

Riley peered from underneath one of the tables to see his friend freed and decided it was safe to get up. Rhys, who remained in the corner, looked at his hand. He saw that yellow energy was bouncing around on it, but channeled it back into his body and kept it hidden.

"Serena, Riley, Rhys," Ash called out as he ran over to a quivering Serena. "Are you all okay?"

"We're fine!" Riley said as he hopped up from underneath a table.

"Can someone _please _explain what's going on here?" Gary asked, obviously annoyed, folding his arms.

Queen Cameran let out another long sigh. "If you all could accompany me to the foyer, I'll be glad to explain everything there."

**. . .**

As Ash, Riley, Serena, Rhys, Gary, and Lucario all moved to the foyer and grabbed a chair, they sat around Queen Cameran and Lady Cameran who began to recant the tale of the legendary Sir Aaron, the man who gave his life for country and queen.

"Long ago…" Queen Cameran stated. "There was a war. It was called the Thousand-Year War because many thought it would have gone on for thousands of years… Year after year of endless slaughter and useless turmoil, but Sir Aaron, the first Aura Guardian, ended it on the very first day. He traveled to the Tree of Beginning and sacrificed himself to spread his aura within the valley to bring everyone to peace. That was about four thousand years ago."

"Whoa…" the kids said in awe, showing great admiration for the man in the legend.

"So what's the Tree of Beginning?" Ash inquired.

"The Tree of Beginning isn't exactly a tree, but a rock formation." Lady Cameran started. "No one knows exactly how or when it was created for sure, but it was said that the first living thing emerged from it on this world."

Gary sat back, while impressed, still with a quizzical look on his face. "So wait, what does this have to do with what happened to me and Ashy boy?" he asked with a furrow of his eyebrow.

"What happened to you two was the power of aura was awakened inside you both." Lady Cameran stated. "Aura is a form of spiritual energy that rests within every living thing. Sir Aaron was able to harness his aura and take control of it. The true extent of his powers, however, was unknown. But it was established that there are two types of aura that we know of- Guardian and Warrior. The Guardian Aura, which is what we assumed Sir Aaron had, is a defensive type of aura that allows him to protect. The Warrior Aura, which is what Lucario is believed to possess, is an offensive aura that allows the ability to fight back. So far, Sir Aaron is the only known Aura Guardian and Lucario is the only known Aura Warrior."

Uninterested in the story, Lucario knocked his chair over as he stood up and began making his way toward the door. "I've heard quite enough of such fallacies about the _hero, Sir Aaron."_

"What's wrong?" Queen Cameran asked as she stood up gracefully from her seat.

"Your so-called _hero_ is nothing more a traitorous swine who abandoned the queen and country on the day the war began, sealed me in a staff for four thousand years, and ran. He didn't protect anything that day but himself."

"But wait!" Ash stood up. "The legend says Sir Aaron gave his life for the kingdom."

"Yeah!" Gary said, joining his rival in the outburst. "You mean to tell me you're just gonna go against that?"

Riley and Serena shared a similar objection to their friends as they stood up and gave in their opinions as well.

"You can't just go against a story like that." Serena stated.

"If the legend says it's true, then it has to be true!" Riley stated.

Rhys abstained from any involvement, sitting there with his arms folded and watching the squabble before him.

"The two of you and your friends best learn your place." Lucario turned around with a low growl. "Lest I don't stay my hand any longer."

"That's quite enough." Lady Cameran called out. "Now, Ash, Gary, were you two there?"

Ash and Gary stopped with confused looks on their faces as they turned to one another. They could both see how puzzled they were with the question and turned their attention back to Lady Cameran. "What do you mean?" they asked.

"Were either of you two or anyone in this room for that matter present on the exact day all of this happened?" Lady Cameran asked.

Everyone in the room, save Lucario, shook their heads in denial of being there.

Lady Cameran sat back down and took a deep breath, saying something that surprised everyone in the room, especially Lucario and Queen Cameran. "Then we cannot say for sure that we really know what happened on that day."

"But the legend-"

"The legend states what has been passed down century after century." Lady Cameran cut in on the young guardian's statement. "Stories have been known to get distorted and changed over the course of many years. The Legend of Sir Aaron and the Thousand Year War are of no exception to this."

"So maybe we should find out what really happened…" Ash said. "How do we do that?"

"I think I know how!" a familiar female voice said as a woman dressed in a purple jumpsuit entered the room uninvited.

Ash recognized her as the same woman he faced in the finals of the tournament, minus the dress, and spoke to her. "Kidd? Is that you?"

"Sure is." She smiled. "If you guys are looking for information on Sir Aaron and the legend, we could probably find some at the Tree of Beginning."

"Hold, woman!" Lucario immediately protested. "You expect to be shown the path to such a sacred ground? I am appalled by such intruding claims. Humans of today have certainly evolved to a lower form of respect."

Both Ash and Gary could feel Lucario's aura tense up as their own muscles tightened slightly.

"Well, Lucario," Kidd smiled as if she expected Lucario would be against taking them to the Tree of Beginning. "When I was in the ballroom, I saw everything that happened. So the way I see it, if Ash had never won the tournament and released you from Sir Aaron's staff, you would still be asleep right now. I think you at least owe it to Ash and his friends to take them to the tree since he woke you up."

"After what Sir Aaron did to me, I owe you humans nothing more than the direction I spit at you in."

Queen Cameran knelt before the Aura Pokémon and took his paw into her hands, looking up at him with beautiful, blue eyes that made her the picture perfect twin of the very first Queen Cameran. "Lucario, please. Ash and his friends are good people. I know you can see it in his aura. Allow them to help you…"

Lucario hesitantly pulled away from Queen Cameran, having flashbacks of the first one and growled slightly, reluctantly agreeing to help the humans, but only because she requested it of him. He was still bound to his duties to the kingdom after all.

**. . .**

The very next morning, Ash and his friends bid their goodbyes to Queen and Lady Cameran, piled into Kidd's yellow recreational vehicle, and set off on the winding roads out into the wild with Lucario guiding them on foot to the fabled Tree of Beginning where they would get their answers.

Ash had the window seat on the left with Serena sitting next to him, looking slightly worried as he did nothing but stare intently out of the window, appearing to be deep in thought. Gary sat next to Serena, occasionally hitting on her with his smooth talk, while Riley sat in the window seat on the right, petting the three Pokémon and Ash's Pikachu that sat in his lap. Rhys remained in the front seat, unwilling to talk to anyone, still with his arms folded but now had an uncomfortable look on his face as if something was really bothering him. All attempts from Ash and his friends to reach him ultimately failed.

The group stopped on a long stretch of dirt road to stretch their legs and relax for a little bit. Riley stuck with his Pokémon and Ash's Pikachu with Serena joining him in playing with them, Rhys and Lucario remained on their own, detached from them, Kidd fiddled around with something inside of her RV, and Ash and Gary sat on the grass, taking in the fresh, morning sky.

"So both of us have the power of the aura…" Ash sighed.

Gary sat up and looked toward the sky. "Looks like it. I wonder what kind we have."

Ash quickly jumped up and pulled Gary to his feet by his arm, tugging him along. "Come on, let's go ask Lucario! Maybe he knows."

The two childhood friends rushed over to the Aura Pokémon who sat alone on a rock that was on the edge of cliff, overlooking the valley that led up to the Tree of Beginning. "Lucario!" Ash called out. With a careless run toward him, the boy tripped over a hard rock and fell to the ground, taking his friend with him. The rock began to unfold and bloom like a flower.

"A Time Flower?" Lucario turned back see a grand scene explode before their eyes.

A man, dressed in blue, walked down the path under the afternoon skies, appearing to be carrying something. Lucario identified the man as none other than Sir Aaron as he slowly made his way down the trail. A soft whimper could be heard from whatever he carried in his arms, to which he replied "Don't worry, Riolu. I promise I'll take good care of you." The scene quickly faded from everyone's view and the Time Flower shriveled back up into the rock it was when Ash tripped over it.

"Lucario…" Ash said as he turned back to the Aura Pokémon who had already turned away from the situation. "Was that Sir Aaron carrying you as a Riolu?"

"You are not required to hear an answer from me, human." He growled as he brushed past Ash. "Come, we must get back on the road."

Kidd saw the children piling back into the RV and pulled a small communicator device from her pocket. "Charles," she whispered hastily. "Come in! Do you read me?"

"Yes!" a man replied from the other end of the communicator. "What is it?"

"We're on our way to the tree. Keep a good eye on us. I'll let you know what happens as we go." Kidd shut off her communicator and hopped back in the vehicle. The group continued to make their way to the tree.

**. . .**

As night fell, the team stopped on the road and began to set up camp for the night. Kidd pitched a few tents in front of the RV with the assistance of Serena and Riley and his Pokémon. Rhys, finally absolving from his abstinence, decided to cook some food for everyone with the help of his Mienfoo. Ash and Gary kept to themselves off in the distance, trying to figure out their new powers, while Lucario remained by himself.

Gary could feel his aura moving through his body and to the tips of his fingers. He held out his hands and let loose a small, green blast that snapped the trunk of a nearby tree, causing it to begin to fall over. Ash focused the power to his hands and created a field of red aura that contained the tree and lowered it safely to the ground. The two boys high fived each other, having gained a little understanding of their new powers.

"So I think it's safe to say that I have the Warrior Aura." Gary smirked happily.

"Yeah," Ash agreed. "And I have the Guardian Aura. So what do we do now?"

"You stay your tainted hands and never use the power of the aura again." Lucario appeared from behind them with an angered expression on his face. "Fools! Training without a master present is dangerous."

"Well, you're here now, right? That means we can train." Ash pointed out.

"I refuse to teach apes as you." Lucario looked down at Ash's Pikachu and Gary's Eevee who were watching their trainers from underneath a tree and approached the two Pokémon. He knelt down with a sinister, cold look in his eyes that sent chills down their spines. "Your trainers will abandon you and leave you for dead just as my master did."

"Hey! What gives?!" Gary said, putting himself in between the Pokémon and Lucario. "You can't just say stuff like that to my Eevee! Totally not cool!"

Ash dug around in his pocket and took out a Time Flower. "Lucario, look at this." He said as he activated it. A spectacular scene began to play before their eyes.

It was the middle of the day underneath an ancient, golden sun and a clear, blue sky. Sir Aaron and Lucario as a Riolu were near a pond with crystal clear water. "Now, Riolu," Sir Aaron started. "It's time for me to teach you how to use the power of the aura. We need you by our side to help protect the kingdom." However, Riolu appeared to only want to splash carelessly in the water. Numerous times, Aaron tried to get the attention of his student before having to raise his voice in anger and startle him. "Riolu! Such behavior is unfitting for a guardian. Now come along, it's time to train."

The scene faded from view and the night sky returned to them, as did the trees and grass that had grown over where the pond once was.

"It looks like Sir Aaron just wanted the best for y-" But Ash stopped mid-sentence, seeing that Lucario had already disappeared, probably before the scene even ended. He called out for the Aura Pokémon, but no answer. Ash didn't really expect him to answer though. He sat down next to Gary and his Pokémon and let out a long sigh. "I don't get it. This doesn't add up. So far all we've seen is Sir Aaron helping Lucario and all Lucario can seem to talk about is how much of a traitor he was."

"Well, you're right about that." Gary agreed. He lie back against the tree and put his arms behind his head, trying to relax, but couldn't seem to get comfortable. The unnerving feeling of Lucario's words made him slightly restless as he held his Eevee. "I think he's got some tough problems to deal with though."

Ash took a moment to think to himself about what Lucario could have going on with him. It came to him that he was in a new world with the last memory of his old one being abandoned by his best friend. "We can sort of relate to him." He said.

Gary raised an eyebrow to the boy as he explained the correlation between the two and the Aura Pokémon.

"Think about it… He was left by his best friend. I was left by my dad and you were left by both of your parents."

"Yeah…" Gary nodded his head. "One person abandoning you like that is enough to get really angry at the world. Arceus knows both of us are."

"Hah, speak for yourself." Ash laughed. "I spent my whole childhood being mad about it. I just want to find him and ask him why he left."

"Come on, Ashy boy." Gary snickered. "Get that anger back and use it as your motivation to find them. That's what I'm doing."

"You can't just stay angry all the time like that. It'll blind you from really connecting with them."

"Yeah, and if you stay calm about it all the time like you are, then you won't notice when they're walking all over you."

The two boys reached a standstill in their conversation, neither of them knowing how to respond to one another. As the night continued on, everyone soon ate and fell asleep in the RV, save Lucario who chose to sleep outside and Rhys who chose to not sleep. He instead, approached the Aura Pokémon with an angered expression on his face. "You." He said.

Lucario didn't bother to turn his head at the angry, insignificant human, hoping that if he ignored it, that it would go away. But it seems that his lack of attention only made the sack of flesh angrier.

"Look at me!" Rhys barked.

The Aura Pokémon turned around with an uncomfortable expression on his face, not wanting to even look in his general direction. "You of all people have no business talking to me."

"We're only a few more miles from the tree. Tell me what happens tomorrow at the Tree of Beginning." Rhys ordered.

Lucario could see the boy's aura flaring up with rage and fury the likes of which he had never seen before, which only made him all the more uncomfortable. "I know not of events that have yet to come. Now please, leave me be."

"Why should I? Because I make you uncomfortable?"

"That's precisely why, boy. Both of us know that you don't belong here. You're out of your element and the fact that you've remained here as long as you have makes me physically uncomfortable. You may have been able to conceal your aura from Ash and Gary as they have not learned the sight yet, but I see straight through your illusion."

A yellow energy swirled in Rhys's hand, but he shrugged it off and channeled it back into his body. "I'm just trying to change things, because tomorrow, it's all supposed to go to hell."

Lucario eyed the boy carefully and read his aura as it began to settle. "You seem to possess knowledge of future events. But you're wrong. Not just your statement but your entire existence here is wrong. Allow me to handle events that are to come and stay out of where you don't belong, human."

Rhys stepped back as an impending sense of doom struck his heart. "Hold, Lucario. You may have seen through my trickery, but I possess power far greater than that of yours and Sir Aaron's combined. I think we both know that." The energy swirling about in Rhys's body dissipated and fell back into the illusion of being undetectable. As he began to retire to the RV, he stopped and turned back to Lucario with a warning. "You might want to begin training Ash and Gary. You're going to need the help."

**. . .**

In the very early hours of the morning, Ash and Gary were both startled awake by a familiar voice calling for them in their heads. _"Ash, Gary, meet me outside. Quickly!" _the voice said. Both of the boys identified it as Lucario's voice and crawled over everyone carefully, managing to stumble out of the RV and onto the ground. The two looked up to see Lucario standing in front of them. He helped the boys up and turned his back to them.

"Lucario? What's up?" the boys asked.

"I apologize for my inexcusable behavior these past few days. Since last night, I have seen that now if I wish to save the Tree of Beginning and uncover my past, I cannot do it alone."

"Oh, Lucario…" Ash sighed.

"It's okay! We understand! You had every right to be angry."

"No matter what, we'll help you find out what happened to Sir Aaron and save the tree!"

"Truly?" Lucario looked back to see the smiling, determined faces of the two boys and felt compelled to smile back at them. So he did, and it was the first time since being released from the staff that the Aura Pokémon had smiled. "I cannot thank you enough for finding it in your hearts to forgive after the trouble and pain I have caused everyone. Now, I'm sure by now that you two have figured out what kind of aura you possess?"

The two boys nodded and conjured balls of aura on the palms of their hands. Lucario's eyes widened with yet another smile as he looked at the energy spheres. "Well, congratulations. It seems you've gone against my previous orders and continued to practice on your own- you two have just created Aura Spheres."

"Aura Spheres?" Ash tilted his head in confusion.

Gary crushed the sphere in his hand. "Aura Sphere. It's an attack that only a select few Pokémon can use."

"You know your knowledge about Pokémon." Lucario complemented him. "Now, before you two can begin learning skills catered to your specific types of aura, it is important that you learn how to sense aura signatures of living things."

"Isn't that just where you close your eyes?" Ash asked.

"Close, but not exactly." Lucario stated. "You must close your eyes and focus hard on the life around you, but at the same time, be calm and become one with nature."

The two students of aura closed their eyes, relaxing their bodies but also sharpening their focus on the world around them. All they saw was pitch black for a few moments until a glorious world of bright colors erupted before them. Everything they had just seen with their open eyes now was visible to them in waves of beautiful, flowing aura. From the wind blowing through the trees to the ground beneath their feet, all that they saw became colored in with vivid tones that made them feel as if they were in a different world.

"This is so cool!" Ash cheered.

"Whoa…" Gary could only say in complete and utter awe.

The trainers opened their eyes and returned to the world they saw before, which appeared horribly unsatisfying after seeing the aura signatures of the world around them for the first time.

Lucario folded his arms and smirked with delight at the young students. "You two are what we used to call back in the ancient times 'Fast Learners'."

"What's next?!" Ash eagerly asked.

Gary looked at him and closed his eyes, seeing his red aura signature was going absolutely wild, bouncing and shooting all over the place. "Arceus above, Ash!" Gary exclaimed. "Calm down!"

"No way! This is too much fun!"

"Now, now," Lucario started. "You must control yourself, or else the power of the aura will escape your grasp."

Ash immediately calmed down and hung his head low with a sad expression on his face. "I'm sorry…"

"Now," Lucario clasped his paws together. "Since Ash has the Guardian Aura, he can create barriers and shields, much like he did back at the palace when I attacked him. Gary, since you have the Warrior Aura, you can pull off many different attack maneuvers. Now, you two face each other."

Ash and Gary did what they were told and turned, facing each other. They read one another's aura signatures and saw they were both calm, but extremely determined and ready to learn, which somewhat intimidated each other.

"Next, take a few steps back."

The two students distanced themselves adequately from each other and stood, awaiting further instructions.

"Now, Gary, I want you to focus your aura to the very tip of your fingers and charge at Ash. And Ash, I want you to focus your aura outward and around you. Are we clear? If so, then begin."

Gary began to feel the energy travel throughout his body and up to his fingers. The energy exploded from his fingertips and shrouded his hands in green claws. The ground beneath his feet erupted in force as he charged at his rival, bearing his sharp claws at him. Ash focused his energy outward and created a red barrier that surrounded him. He held his position as Gary furiously attempted to claw his way in, but the second contact was made, the red aura wrapped itself around Gary's body and exploded, sending him flying back out of sight.

"Ash! Use your sight to find him!" Lucario quickly yelled.

Ash closed his eyes and began to see the world in signatures of aura. He looked around frantically, but saw no sign of his rival to be seen anywhere. Suddenly, a green burst of energy erupted in the distance. The trainer looked over just in time to catch a glimpse of his opponent dashing back toward him with incredible speed. Ash was met with a smack of a large, green broadsword made of aura to the chest and knocked back into a mountain behind them.

"Hold, Gary. Your opponent is not down yet. Use your sight to locate and pinpoint where his next attack will come from." Lucario informed the young student.

Gary did as instructed and shut his eyes tight, looking around in the world of aura signatures that flowed around him. However, he could not locate the red aura that was his opponent until the last second. A red flash quickly shined from above him. The boy just barely got a chance to see Ash crash down on him with a large heater shield made of aura. The impact erupted the land beneath them, flinging dust and dirt everywhere. Everyone fell out of the RV in shock and looked over at the explosion of energy.

Lucario closed his eyes and saw through the smoke that Ash and Gary stood at arms, waiting for the other to make a move. He plunged into the dust cloud and expanded his aura outward while spinning, creating a tornado of energy that cleared up the field and revealed Ash and Gary staring each other down. "Hold!" the Aura Pokémon yelled. Both of the boys relaxed their tense selves, sheathing their weapons back into energy that returned to their bodies. "You two have surpassed the expectations that I put in place. I'm more than proud of you both."

As Ash and Gary began to walk over to Lucario to thank him, Gary tripped over a rock and fell flat on his face. The rock began to sprout and bloom like a flower and played yet another scene for the group.

"Another Time Flower…" Ash said as the movie played before his eyes.

The episode revealed Sir Aaron at a dead end in a deep, dense forest, surrounded by Primeape that looked ready to strike. In his hands was a small, diamond like Pokémon that he appeared to be protecting from the angry Pokémon. Just as one of them lunged out after the Aura Guardian, Riolu appeared and blew the Primeape away with an Aura Sphere. He then became shrouded in a blue energy as his body changed and shifted shape into the Lucario that everyone saw standing before them today. The newly-evolved Lucario made quick work of the Pig Monkey Pokémon and returned to his master, who had fallen to one of his knees. "Master!" Lucario yelled. "Are you hurt?"

"No, I'm fine, Riol- I mean Lucario." Aaron smiled as he stood up and laid eyes on his new partner. "You evolved… just to protect me?"

Lucario looked at himself, appearing to not even having noticed that he underwent an evolution and nodded his head.

Aaron fell back down to his knees in tears of joy and wrapped the student in his arms, sobbing in his chest. "Oh, Lucario, thank you!"

The scene ended there and the group was returned to reality. Lucario could feel his anger drawing back inside of him. Ash and Gary, now possessing the sight, could feel the Pokémon's rage expand outward. But suddenly, the rage subsided and Lucario had calmed himself completely. "Now isn't the time for me to be angry." He thought to himself.

"Hey, Lucario, are you okay?" Ash said as he and Gary put sentimental hands on the Pokémon's shoulders.

He nodded slowly as he looked off in the distance with the large tree in sight. "We have to keep moving."

Ash and Gary nodded as everyone gathered back in the RV and resumed their journey down the road. Lucario still lead the team on foot as they began to near the tree more and more.

**. . .**

It was late into the evening when the group arrived on the outskirts of the tree. Not much longer and they would reach the entrance in which they would be able to walk in. More and more Pokémon began to appear as they neared the tree.

Lucario suddenly stop and froze in the middle of the road as if he had seen a ghost. Everyone got out of the RV and saw a Time Flower sitting right in front of the Aura Pokémon.

"Lucario?" Ash inquired. "What's wrong?"

"This is the place…" he said, looking down at the flower with his body shaking in utter fear. "The place where…" but his mouth would not allow him to speak anymore words, for if he did then he would be choking back tears that would inevitable flow from his eyes. His foot slowly went out and activated the flower. It bloomed slowly and unfolded a scene that began to play for everyone.

"Lucario!" a man dressed in blue yelled from behind the Pokémon. Lucario looked back to see the man with a staff in his hand, following just inches behind him. "Hold, for I have important news of the palace!"

Lucario did as instructed from the man and held his place. "Yes, Master?"

Sir Aaron held his down, reluctant to speak what was dangling off the tip of his tongue. What he was about to say would change the course of history forever, as he opened his mouth and spoke the words "I have betrayed Queen Cameran and the entire kingdom and have been thrown from my position as Aura Guardian."

The Aura Pokémon's eyes widened at such an outlandish claim from his amiable master. Never before would he have thought those words would come out of that man's mouth, or anyone's mouth for that matter. "What are these foolish words you speak?!"

Only the apology of "I'm sorry, my friend…" escaped the man's lips before a flash of aura escaped from his fingertips. The aura shot into Lucario's chest and froze his joints stiff to the point of silence. The Aura Pokémon's body became enveloped in a strange light as he felt his body separating into little orbs of energy that flew into the tip of the staff. Aaron let go as the staff shook wildly with attempts from Lucario to break free, but soon it seemed to allay. It plunged lifelessly to the ground, casting a reflection of the man's miserable face back up at him.

With a sharp whistle, a Pidgeot swooped down and grabbed the staff, transporting far off behind the man. Aaron closed his eyes and placed the tips of his fingers down to the rich soil of the world. He could feel it quiver under the march of soldiers and Pokémon alike, all ready to cleave one another in half with no intent of mercy. The skies began to fill with screams and blood as the thousand year war begun.

The scene kept going as it depicted vicious murders before them. Blood splattered everywhere and limbs flew among the warring colonies carelessly like popcorn thrown in a movie theater. Ash ran to cover Riley's eyes, but it was too late. Everyone already had the horrible atrocities burned into their heads. Serena clung to Ash for dear life, feeling as if they were really in the middle of the war. Horrible, disgusting profanities were yelled out by the soldiers, some of them cut off by an enemy's sword or attack. Soldier after soldier and Pokémon after Pokémon fell to the ground, dead. Enemies that were still alive trampled over the fallen as if they weren't even there and continued the horrible strife. Ash could feel Riley crying into his shirt as he held the young boy with one arm and kept Serena close in the other. Rhys and Gary folded their arms with faces of disgust, not even bearing to be able to look at the abhorrent event before them. But no matter how much they closed their eyes, they could still see everything through the aura signatures, which eventually made them, along with Ash, begin to scream in horror. Lucario, distraught, began to fire Aura Spheres into the illusions, but no use came of it. He fell to his knees, roaring pain and agony as he, along with everyone, watched Sir Aaron valiantly making his way through the warring armies, sustaining many wounds and injuries. By the time the Aura Guardian emerged from the struggle and entered the tree, he had a severe limp and his left arm was missing.

The Time Flower shriveled back up and took the horrifying scene with it. Everyone stood, cowering, unable to look and see if it was over until Lucario himself finally addressed them. "You may look now. The Time Flower has closed."

The kids opened their eyes to see themselves back into the afternoon sun, but that didn't stop their tremoring.

Kidd suddenly flew out of her RV like a maniac, having been in there the whole time and looked in back of them, yelling up in the sky "Hey! Down here! Right here!"

Everyone looked back to see an armada of planes and helicopters swarming the skies and touching down in front of them. The jets of the planes and whirring of the blades of the helicopters made it impossible to hear anything at all.

Lucario, Ash, Gary, Serena, Riley, and Rhys piled into the RV and hid on the floor of it, able to escape from some of the noise.

"What in the hell is going on out there?!" Gary asked, looking up and peering out of a window. News reports and cameras all flashed at Kidd as she spoke to them. They all praised her as if she was some sort of god before running towards the tree like excited school children.

"No…" Lucario said softly with his body shaking wildly. "T- The tree… I feel it… It's in danger…"

Ash got up in the driver's seat and quickly turned the key in the ignition, revving the engine loudly.

Riley got up and sat next to him in the passenger's seat, frantically flailing his arms. "Ash! You know how to drive?!"

"Nope!" Ash said confidently as he smacked his foot down on the gas pedal and tore down the road, passing all of the running news reporters. He quickly lost control of the large vehicle and began to veer off the road with a large in their direct line of sight. Suddenly, a pink, feline-like Pokémon that Ash, Riley, and Pikachu recognized from Pikachu's past descended into Ash's lap and took the wheel with its tiny, pink paws, managing to get the vehicle back on the road.

"H- Hey…" Gary stammered. "Is that…?" he took out his Pokédex and pointed it at the magical little Pokémon.

"_Mew, the New Species Pokémon. Its DNA is said to contain the genetic codes of all Pokémon, so it can use all kinds of moves and techniques. It is a rare sight and said to be the ancestor of all Pokémon."_

"Whoa…" Ash said as he watched the New Species Pokémon flawlessly drive the vehicle up to the tree and parked it next to the rock. Everyone quickly scampered out to see the news reporters quickly closing in on them on foot.

"What do we do?!" Serena panicked with Riley clenching himself to her hip.

Ash, Gary, and Rhys stepped forward, calling out all of their Pokémon. From Ash, Pikachu, Bulbasaur, Aipom, and his recently caught Carbink appeared in front of him. Gary called forth his Pidgeotto, Nidorino, and Eevee to join them, while Rhys relied on his faithful Mienfoo. Energy erupted from the tips of Ash and Gary's fingers as they summoned their weapons, an Aura Shield and an Aura Broadsword. Serena joined them and called out her Fennekin and Rhyhorn to help. Riley, seeing that he had no choice but to battle, freed his anger and called his Pokémon friends, Rattata, Caterpie, and Dedenne to help. Lucario and Mew stood at the ready to stop the reporters from barging into the tree and harming it.

Suddenly, a mysterious, psychic force enveloped everyone, rendering them unable to move as they were caught in a powerful Psychic attack. Ash, Gary, and Lucario closed their eyes and located the source of the attack.

"Up there!" Lucario yelled. A large, black helicopter flew high above them as numerous Team Rocket Grunts began to descend down with various Psychic type Pokémon following close behind them. Among the grunts was the duo of idiots Ash and Riley faced back in the Viridian City Pokémon Center.

"Prepare for trouble from the skies!"

"Beyond the stars a nasty surprise!"

"An evil as old as the galaxy…"

"Sent here to fulfill our destiny…"

"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"

"To extend our reach to the stars above!"

"Jessie!"

"And James!"

"And Meowth are the names!"

"Wherever there's peace in the universe…"

"Team Rocket…"

"Will be there! To make everything worse!"

"Who _are _those barbaric oafs?!" Lucario yelled.

"Didn't you just hear the motto?" Jessie groaned.

Jessie and James approached the group and stood in front of them with what seemed like an army of grunts standing behind them.

Jessie approached Ash and pinched his cheeks while he stood there motionless, unable to fight back as the psychic power held him. "Let's have a big round of applause to the twerp and his friends for leading us right to the Tree of Beginning!"

The grunts began to applaud and cheer for the boy's ignorance of them tracking his every movement. Many thanks and cheers and insults alike were called out to him and his friends as all they could do was stand there and take it.

James walked up to the young boy and smacked his hard in the face, grabbing him by the shirt collar and spitting on his cheek. "That's for my beautiful face, you pint-sized weasel."

"Now, men and women of Team Rocket! Charge!" Jessie yelled.

All at once, the Rocket Grunts began pouring into the sacred tree, beginning their defilation of it. They captured many of the wild Pokémon that resided inside of it and began to carelessly take samples of its hard roots and large, blue crystals that stuck out of it. The news reports ran in straight behind them, fighting with the grunts over who would be the first to defile the tree.

Kidd walked by the group with fat wads of money in her hand and sly smile on her face.

"Kidd!" Ash and Gary yelled, trying to break free from the psychic hold.

She only waved at them as she retired into the tree and began pillaging parts of it to sell.

Suddenly, the hold on the children and their Pokémon was broken. Everyone fell to the ground and with a loud, high pitched scream, Mew managed to teleport everyone to a room away from the turmoil. The trainers quickly returned their Pokémon, all except save Ash's Pikachu and Gary's Eevee.

"What just happened?" Ash asked, looking around at the small, rocky room they were crowded into.

"Mew teleported us away from everything going on…" Gary surmised. "That must have taken a lot of power and I doubt it'd be able to do it again… So where are we?"

Lucario closed his eyes and sensed the aura signature of the life around him. Bright lights of aura flashed like Christmas lights as he saw many wild Pokémon being captured and hurt by grunts and news reporters alike. "We're at the top of the tree!" he quickly opened his eyes.

A loud explosion rang out from the bottom of the tree, followed by screams of pain and agony. The three aura users, Ash, Gary, and Lucario, closed their eyes. They looked down at the entrance and saw a multitude of grunts and reporters fleeing for their lives with a large, rock-like golem firing Hyper Beams at them.

"What in the world is that thing?!" Gary shrieked.

"That's a Regirock." Lucario opened his eyes once again. "Technically speaking, it isn't the real one. The Tree of Beginning is much like a body. It creates white blood cells to fight off diseases."

"So it views humans as diseases?" Serena asked.

However, right as she asked her question, an orange glob that appeared to be a white blood cell of the tree, fell down onto Rhys. He screamed as he tried to break free from the cell's grasp, but found himself being broken down by it. Quickly thinking on his feet, he grabbed a Poké Ball from his pocket and released Mienfoo before being completely broken and destroyed by the tree. Everyone was taken completely off guard by the incident and had no time to help him.

The now lonely Mienfoo fell to his knees where his trainer once was and wept tears as he pounded the ground in anger, roaring for him to come back. But nothing happened.

"It views us as diseases too?!" Ash yelled.

Lucario growled and closed his eyes, seeing the world in aura and frantically looking around. He suddenly opened them and fired an Aura Sphere at the wall. The sphere broke through the wall, revealing a hidden passageway. "Come on!" he said, guiding everyone into the narrow tunnel. "We have to get out of here!"

Mienfoo refused to come as he simply curled up on the cold, rocky floor where his trainer disappeared, and cried his martial arts heart out. Lucario couldn't wait any longer and was forced to abandon the poor Pokémon as they made their way into a set of tunnels.

A beam of ice shot in between Ash and Gary as they looked back to see a golem with an ice body heading straight towards them. It roared demonically as it fired off a Hyper Beam.

"Regice!" Lucario yelled.

Ash and Mew quickly stepped forward and shielded everyone with a barrier made of aura. Lucario and Gary fought back with twin Aura Spheres that struck the ice titan and managed to stun it temporarily. Matters were soon made worse as a titan whose body was composed entirely of steel emerged from a nearby tunnel and the titan of rock burrowed from under the rocky ground up to them.

"Registeel and Regirock too?!" Lucario said as he found himself bunched together with the children, surrounded by the terrible titans. Each one of them roared demonically before firing off powerful Hyper Beam attacks at them.

Ash and Mew stepped forward again to create a barrier, but the added pressure of two more Hyper Beams caused the two a great deal of trouble as it began to crack all over. The two looked at each other with the same idea and expanded the barrier outward, blowing the three titans away with a blast of energy.

Suddenly, a white blood cell rose from the ground captured Serena.

"Serena!" Ash and Gary yelled as they rushed to her side, trying to pull her out.

"Get me out of here!" She yelled desperately, which scared both Ash and Gary. The two boys tried to tug, but pulled so hard they lost their grips and flew back. Serena quickly released her Fennekin and Rhyhorn from their Poké Balls before being completely dissolved by the white blood cell.

The two students sat there with horrified expressions on their faces as they screamed out as loud as their lungs would allow them.

"You two!" Lucario picked the two boys back up. "I know it hurts, but we cannot risk mourning right now!" he said, pointing at the golems quickly returning to them. "We have to move!"

Ash and Gary stopped their screaming, choked down their sadness, and kept moving with the remaining members of the group with Fennekin and Rhyhorn refusing to leave the spot their trainer disappeared. The team quickly blitzed through hallways of the tree, hearing the horrified screams of grunts and news reporters alike echo throughout the tree. A few Pokémon lay motionless, almost as if the life had completely escaped from their bodies.

"What do we do, Lucario?! It's like the tree only sees us as enemies and not the humans!" Ash yelled as the group kept running.

"We have to escape this place before anymore are lost!" he yelled back at the aura student.

A demonic shout echoed throughout the tree as a Hyper Beam struck the ceiling above them, causing large rocks to fall and divide the group with Ash and Riley on one side and Lucario and Gary on the other.

"Guys!" Ash and Riley yelled as they pounded on the rocks.

Ash jumped back and began to throw multiple Aura Spheres at the fallen boulders, chipping away at them. Gary and Lucario did the same while Riley called on his Pokémon friends from underneath his straw hat to gnaw away at the boulders. Pikachu also joined in, whipping Electro Balls, in an effort to help reunite everyone.

A white blood cell jumped from the shadows and came down towards Ash. Riley quickly pushed the boy out of the way and was caught in the mass. "Riley!" the trainer screamed as he reached out his hand and tried to grab Riley to pull him free, but it was no use. The tree had picked off yet another 'disease'.

A loud explosion rang out from behind Ash. Gary and Lucario quickly ran through the broken barrier of rocks only to see Ash on his knees with a straw hat on the ground in front of him. Gary put a hand on his friend's shoulder as he quickly wiped the tears away from his eyes and stood up. The remainder of the group, Ash, Gary, and Lucario kept moving while Riley's Pokémon refused to leave their friend's straw hat as they crowded around it and wept as long as they possible could.

Regirock burrowed from underneath the ground and stopped the three in their tracks. It fired off a power Hyper Beam attack that Ash stepped forward and shielded them from. Mew teamed up Gary and Lucario to fire off a powerful Aura Sphere that knocked out the rock golem. It fell to the ground with a mighty thud and a demonic roar.

"Well, that takes care of that." Ash said as he leaned against the wall of the hallway they were in, completely exhausted.

"Looks like that thing won't be bothering us any-" Gary was quickly cut off by the Regirock's body melting into a white blood cell and clamping down on his arm. The cell quickly spread to cover his body as it began to sink down into the ground. With a quick yell, he released his Pokémon so they wouldn't suffer the same fate as him. In the blink of an eye, Gary Oak was gone. The once courageous boy that was said to have been able to handle everything was wiped from the face of the world just like that. Lucario would have forced Ash to move on by now, but a depressing sight froze them in their spots. Gary's Eevee had taken to blasting the ground where his trainer disappeared with a Hyper Voice attack, as if he was trying to get his trainer from underneath the ground. But Gary wasn't in the ground. He was gone. Eevee tried desperately to scream his trainer out of the tree with Hyper Voice after Hyper Voice, alas nothing happened. The little Pokémon collapsed from exhaustion and Ash, Pikachu, Lucario, and Mew couldn't bear to look at the sight any longer. They had to keep continuing.

"Lucario, what are we going to do now?" Ash said as he ran, his voice cracking slightly.

"Change of plans." Lucario stated. "We're going to the heart of the tree. There just may be a way to save everyone."

A soft smile of hope crept across Ash's face as they continued to make their way through the dangerous tree. As they ran, the screams of humans began to die down, which only could have meant that everyone was either absorbed or everyone got away. The screams of Pokémon, however, only increased as explosions one after another rang out, sometimes being so powerful that they shook the tree and caused Ash and Lucario to fall. But no matter what, they kept on racing toward their goal of the heart of the tree.

Ash, Pikachu, Lucario, and Mew eventually stumbled from inside the tree to a bridge outside under the night sky. It was made completely of rock and stretched far out into another section of the tree. Lucario closed his eyes and saw the heart of the tree just across the bridge. The three looked down to see that even after all of the running, they were still extremely high in the air. Soft winds blew past them as demonic roars called out from the other side of the bridge.

"No…" Lucario said as he looked over to see the two remaining golems, Regice and Registeel, slowly approaching them with murderous intent in their eyes.

Ash charged at the golems with a mighty roar. Aura erupted from his fingers and wrapped around arm to create his heater shield and he valiantly bashed it into Regice. The ice golem flew back and hit the bridge hard, causing it to rumble with the impact. Regirock pulled back for a Hammer Arm attack, but Ash shoved his shield into the cell along with Pikachu hitting it with an Iron Tail so hard that the combined force made its arm of rock shattered completely. The rock golem began to withdraw, giving Regice the perfect coverage to leap above it and fire a surprise Zap Cannon. The attack caught Ash and Pikachu off-guard and left him no time to dodge, but Lucario deflected it back at the ice golem with a Metal Claw attack. Regice was hit with its own attack hard, and coupled with its secondary effect, it became immediately paralyzed.

"Now's our chance!" Lucario yelled as the three charged past the almost defeated golems and across the bridge.

Ash looked back with a yell to see the golems giving chase as fast as they could. Mew turned around and slammed an Aura Sphere into the middle of the bridge, crumbling it and rendering the two golems stuck on the other side as the group made it into a large room with a giant, blue crystal in the middle. Energy sparked from the crystal like lightning rhythmically, almost as if it was a heartbeat. The only problem was that the rhythm was extremely fast.

Suddenly, Ash felt a sharp, stinging sensation to his side that made him fall over and convulse uncontrollably. Pikachu screamed as hard kick with a steel-toe boot was delivered to his face, sending it across the room and knocking out against the wall. Lucario turned back to see a red-haired demon putting a cattle prod to Mew and shocking it vigorously. As the pink, feline Pokémon fell to the ground, he began beating Ash's twitching body mercilessly with the other end of the prod. With the thud of the New Species Pokémon's body, the tree began to roar and shake, almost as if it were groaning in pain and couldn't stand anymore. The boy grabbed Mew by the tail and looked over Lucario who had already begun charging an Aura Sphere between his paws. "Discard your attack or Mew will feel the stinging end of my cattle prod."

Lucario reluctantly dissolved the Aura Sphere and stood there, watching Mew be dangled like a chew toy hanging out of a dog's mouth. "What do you want, disgusting human? Don't you know this tree is in grave danger? And you waste your time attacking the innocent"

"I could honestly care less about what happens to the innocent, you, or this stupid kid." He spat, kicking Ash in the stomach. "I have orders to find the secret of this tree, which I have. Mew and the Tree of Beginning are inexorably linked together. If one is in pain, the other one feels it. Oh? What's that? You asked for an example? I'd be happy to oblige." The boy let Mew's body fall to the ground. His foot followed it as it stomped vigorously on the poor Pokémon's windpipe, choking it nearly to death. "If my foot were to choke the life out of this stupid little thing…"

Air began to suddenly get sucked out of the tree as if it there were a vacuum being created inside of it.

"Then the tree chokes as well! Isn't that just interesting?" the boy said sarcastically as grabbed Mew by the tail again.

Ash's eyes quickly opened as he conjured a spherical barrier around Mew that was intended for _only _Mew. Since the Rocket Executive's hand was inside of it and not meant to be, the aura barrier quickly realized him as an enemy as it left Mew and wrapped around his arm, exploding and sending him flying out of the room. As he neared the ground, he fell right into the cushiony grasp of a white blood cell and was absorbed by the tree.

Mew flew back, but Ash managed to get up and dive to catch it in his hands just before it hit the wall. The two fell to the ground with Mew wrapped in the safety of his arms. But it was too late. As Ash opened his arms up, the little Pokémon released one final breath before the remainder of its life escaped from its body. Ash and Lucario sat, frozen to the core as various sections of the tree began to explode and wither away. All of their options had just been exhausted. As the Rocket Executive previously stated, Mew and the Tree of Beginning were linked together. No tree, no Mew.

Lucario suddenly stood up and looked over at the giant crystal that had turned dim with no energy flashing from it anymore. "There's still a way…"

"What is it?" Ash said as he slowly sat up, his abdomen and stomach being in a great deal of pain, with the dead body of Mew still in his arms.

Lucario seemed hesitant to say it, but as explosions began to grow closer and closer, he knew that this wasn't a time for him to choke on his words. "We can reset the tree…"

"Reset?"

The Aura Pokémon slowly nodded his head and took Mew from the boy's hands. "It's the only way…" Lucario said with a saddened expression on his face, as if he didn't want to do it. He walked over to the large crystal and smashed it open, placing the dead body inside. With a mighty roar, the aura was summoned from his body and it began to flow inside of the crystal. "Ash!" Lucario yelled, straining himself. "I need your help!"

Ash picked himself up and slowly limped over to Lucario. He took the Pokémon's paw into his and began to expel the aura from his body and allowed it to flow into the crystal. "So how does this work, exactly?" Ash said as he could feel an immense pressure on his body press down.

"The energy of us living beings flows into the tree. The tree takes our energy and starts a new cycle for itself!"

"So when this is over, the tree is just gonna be a seed?"

Lucario nodded as the aura from the two of them began to flow faster and more powerfully. "Yes! The tree and everything connected with it will return to its original birth spot to be born again!"

"Wait, that means-"

The Aura Pokémon grabbed Ash's hands and flung him from the crystal, disconnecting him from the tree.

"Lucario!" Ash yelled as he tried to get up, but was in too much pain and had wasted too much of his energy to even crawl.

"I'm sorry, Ash… It's the only way! Thank you for your help!"

The crystal began to crack and shine brightly, blinding Ash as he crawled over to his unconscious Pikachu and hugged him for dear life. A bright light continued to grow and expand, swallowing up the trainer and his Pokémon and the entire tree until everything was enveloped within it. Lucario's scream was heard as the light exploded with an extreme amount of energy, sending winds so strong that nearly every tree within a four mile radius was obliterated, along with every Pokémon and fleeing grunt and news reporter that just happened to be within the radius. The night sky all covering Kanto blinked white for a solid minute before falling back to its dark, purple and black color with the stars resuming their twinkle in the sky.

The Tree of Beginning was no more. Nothing but rubble and dust covered the area where it once was and the four mile radius the blast covered. Ash's eyes slowly opened to the forsaken, empty land as wind blew dirt up his nose, causing him to sneeze loudly, which woke up his Pikachu who was next to him. He looked down and checked himself out. While his clothes had been torn and ripped nearly to shreds, the pain and exhaustion he felt just moments before the tree's reset were gone. He looked around to see Serena, Riley, and Rhys laying in close proximity to each other. The trainer quickly got up and ran, shaking each one of his friends awake and hugging them tightly with tears dripping from his eyes. Their Pokémon, happy to be reunited with their trainers, pounced and piled on top of them for a big hug. Ash even called his three other Pokémon out and hugged them tightly.

Serena ran over and hugged Ash from behind, nuzzling her head against his with tears falling down her face. "I'm so glad you're alive!" she yelled, hugging him so tight that he could barely breathe.

As she let go, it was Riley's turn to pounce on Ash and give him a big hug. "Oh my Arceus!" he screamed. "I had no clue if I was ever gonna see you again!"

Once Riley had released his grip from Ash's body, Rhys gave Ash a soft hug, thankfully. "I'm glad we're all safe."

A hand appeared, reaching down and offering Ash some help up. As he reached for the hand, he saw that it belonged to none other than Gary Oak himself, who was actually helping him for a chance. "Glad to see you're okay." He said as he shook his rivals hand.

The two looked oddly at each other and burst out into tears, holding onto one another for dear life as they bawled in each other's arms.

"God dammit, Gary Oak! Don't you ever die on me like that again!" Ash sobbed.

"S- Shut up!" Gary hit him on the back as the two continued hugging.

"Hey guys…" Serena started. "Where's the tree?"

Ash slowly pulled away from Gary with his head held low. "Lucario used his aura and sacrificed himself to reset it and everything connected to it… He said that once it was reset, everything and the tree connected to it would return to their original birth spots to be reborn again…"

The four kids grew appalled looks on their faces as their eyes began to well up with tears.

"S- So Lucario and all those Pokémon are… gone?" Riley said with tears beginning to roll down his tiny cheeks.

Ash slowly nodded, trying to remain strong and holding back his tears. But suddenly, something caught him off-guard. An odd feeling that made him close his eyes and view the world in waves of aura. "Gary, close your eyes!" Ash said, reading over a thousand aura signatures within the area.

Gary did the same and was appalled to see that many signatures at once. "What in the world… its all of the reports and Team Rocket grunts!"

"That's not what I'm looking for!" Ash yelled as he turned around and saw a familiar aura signature off in the distance. He began to run as fast as his feet would carry him with Gary, Serena, Riley, and Rhys and their Pokémon following him until he reached the signature and opened his eyes. Right where the heart of the tree was, Lucario was sitting up against a rock.

"Lucario!" everyone yelled happily. But the happiness was short lived once they got a good look at him. The Aura Pokémon's body was severely crippled and his breathing was staggered. He could barely move, let alone talk, but he managed to smile at the sight of his friends.

"Ash, Gary, everyone…" Lucario coughed weakly. "I'm so glad I got to see you all again…"

"What's happening to you?!" Ash said as he dropped to his knees next to the Aura Guardian.

"My body is… breaking down. Getting ready to be reborn again." Lucario said, coughing more harshly this time. He looked over and saw two Time Flowers placed next to each other. His paw stretched out as far as it could to touch the one closest to him. The flower activated and immediately opened up, giving birth to a scene that was depicted before them.

A young Sir Aaron stood in the heart of the tree with a young Mew flying playfully around him. Mew floated above the large crystal and began to glow blue, as did the crystal itself. Energy sparked wildly from the two which made him throw up an aura barrier. The crackling began to slowly die down as a ball of energy began to spin around in front of Sir Aaron until it took form in the shape of a blue egg with black markings on it. As the egg floated into his hands, he smiled down warmly at it with a child-like excitement dancing in his eyes.

The vision ended there. By the time the vision ended, every single person had taken to crowding a safe distance from Lucario as to not aggravate him, watching the second Time Flower explode with a vision that played out in the word around them.

This time, Sir Aaron was noticeably older. He stood in the heart of the Tree of Beginning once again, but looked completely exhausted. The battle damage they witnessed earlier when he moved through the vicious armies was present on his body. His severe limp, his missing left arm, the horrible, gaping wounds on his body- all of it could be seen and it broke their hearts to pieces. Aaron limped over to the wall and slowly sat down with extreme pain and discomfort which happened to be right in front of Lucario.

"What a fool I've been today…" Sir Aaron said weakly with a terrible cough. "I wouldn't forgive myself for what I did here today… Not a single bit. Using the tree to wipe out two whole armies… I am unfit to be a Guardian of Aura. But all of that… all of it… doesn't even matter. Because here I lay dying alone…" Tears began to fall from Aaron's eyes as he sniveled and groaned slightly in pain. "I knew if I hadn't sealed you in that staff that you would have followed me here and suffered my same fate…"

Lucario couldn't hold it back anymore and he began to cry. The Pokémon that had remained so strong for everyone in the group and motivated them to press on even when things got tough had just lost it. And damn did he ever deserve to.

"What I did, I did without choice…" Sir Aaron coughed harshly again. His body began to grow pale and the color from his blue eyes faded. "Had I not taken down both armies with this tree and shown them its true power… they would have risen and fought again… Both kings of the rivaling kingdoms have been informed that should there be another war, the tree will take hostile action… And Lucario…"

Lucario looked up from his tears as if he truly believed Sir Aaron were still in this world with him. "Yes, Master?!"

"I just want you to know…" Sir Aaron began weeping and sobbing uncontrollably as he shed his hat and squeezed it together in his hands, needing something to hold onto. "Lucario! I just want you to know that I'm so sorry for what I did! No matter what you think or what you may say when you get released from staff, know that I always loved you! I did what I did to protect you! You're my…" Aaron paused as he realized he was on his last breath. A single tear rolled down his cheek and the last smile of the Aura Guardian was seen by all. "You're my… best friend…" Sir Aaron reached his hand out, as if he saw something and tried to grab for it.

"Aaron! NO! PLEASE DON'T GO!" Lucario begged as he reached out his paw desperately to touch his best friend one last time, but the vision faded. The Aura Pokémon fell back down and let out what he intended to be a loud, distressed scream. But it was much quieter and sadder than he expected. He calmed down, sensing that his time had just about run out, and turned to Ash, taking the boy's hand in his paws. "Ash… Gary… thank you so much for what you've done. Please know that, you two… and Serena… and Riley… and Rhys… are my friends… and I love you all. My aura will be forever with you all. I'll never forget any of you… I'm s- sorry…" the last breath escaped from the Pokémon's body and he was now motionless on the ground.

"LUCARIO!" Ash and Gary screamed as his body began to fade away. Soon, all that remained of the brave, ancient, Aura Pokémon, was a small, blue egg that now rested within Ash's hands.

"'_Everything connected with it will return to its original birth spot to be born again.'_"

"I- is that…" Gary stammered as he looked down at the egg with Ash.

Ash slowly nodded through the tears in his eyes as he held the warm egg in his hands. "It's Lucario…" He looked over and noticed an odd-looking rock on the ground. Ash closed his eyes and saw powerful energy signature inside of the little stone. He gasped on the sudden realization of what the rock was and pointed over toward it, unable to speak due to shock.

Gary quickly realized what the stone was and grabbed it carefully in his hands. "It's the… the seed… of the Tree of Beginning…" He dug a hole in front of Ash where the egg sat and planted it.

As Gary covered the seed back up underneath the earth, grass and flowers immediately began sprouting all over the desolate wasteland, as if the land had begun completely anew. Wild Pokémon began running through the new grasses and making their homes right in front of them. The children felt blessed to witness such a miracle and didn't feel that sad anymore.

However, an angered Ash closed his eyes and saw the aura signatures of over a thousand people nearby, people that were the ones who devastated the tree in the first place. His power began to swell up inside of him and his rage sharpened his aura into an outward shock wave that stunned every single defiler, rendering them motionless. Kidd, Jessie, James, and red-haired devil all screamed the loudest as he rose from the ground with red aura coursing through his veins and eyes angrier than anything they had ever seen.

"You people…" he growled in a low, demonic voice. His power began squeezing their bodies and the screams of the people rang out into the night. Gary, Serena, Riley, and Rhys all took a step back from the incredible power that Ash displayed and the wild Pokémon who were beginning to make their homes on this land stopped and quivered in fear. "It's because of _YOU PEOPLE THAT ALL OF THIS HAPPENED."_

Suddenly, a pink aura enveloped Ash and quickly calmed him down, causing him to release the people he had under his control. Queen Cameran emerged from the pathway that once stood in front of the tree and began giving her royal decree. "You are all ordered to return home immediately, never to return to this sacred land again!" she shouted. "You will tell no one of the events that happened here today! This is the royal word of Queen Cameran. If my word is ignored and any of you dare open your mouths or set foot in my kingdom or on this land again, it will be considered an act of war!"

The people that destroyed the tree quickly fled the scene in helicopters and planes and took off like rockets in the sky, not wanting to suffer the wrath of thy majesty anymore.

The Queen turned her attention to Ash, who was now sitting on the ground with his Pokémon around him, holding the egg. "I felt everything that happened from the kingdom. I also felt the dark rage inside of you when you used your aura on those people." She knelt down with a stern look on her face and pointed at the egg he held tightly in his arms. "You have a new responsibility now- to ensure that Riolu gets the life it was robbed of from being in Sir Aaron's staff. If it were to hatch right now, it would be born with murderous intent and that will be on your hands. I understand your anger, but it's not up to you to decide what their punishment is. Do you understand?"

Ash slowly nodded and was helped up to his feet by the noble Queen. He was then given a kiss that nearly made him fall back down to his butt as he blushed uncontrollably. Gary was given the same kiss to which he also blushed. Serena held her jealous tongue, figuring that it probably wouldn't have been a good idea to speak out against her.

Ash, Gary, and Queen Cameran all knelt down where the seed of the Tree of Beginning was buried. The Queen focused her aura to create a small barrier around the seed that went invisible shortly after its creation.

"What did you do?" the boys asked.

"I created a force field around the seed that will expand as it grows. If anyone who happens upon this area is filled with negative intent, the field will react and turn them around so that they won't defile the land again." Queen Cameran explained.

"How come you didn't do that before?" the two asked again.

"Such a thing never had to be worried about. But now that I know the evil, whether it be intentional or not, that lurks out there, the tree and this land will be ready next time."

Ash and Gary smiled up at the Queen as they helped her to her feet.

"I must be getting back to my kingdom." The Queen stated. "But first…" She placed her hands on the boys' heads and they became enshrouded with a mystical, pink glow that seemed to amplify the aura inside of them. "For your duties preformed today, I dub thee, Ash Ketchum, an Aura Knight, the highest ranking I am allowed to give someone with the Guardian Aura. And I also dub thee, Gary Oak, an Aura Knight. May your aura keep you and those you love safe. But you must promise to never do bodily harm with your powers. Are you understood?"

The two boys nodded and accepted their ranks of nobility. As Queen Cameran bid them farewell and returned back to the palace, Serena, Riley, and Rhys approached Ash and Gary, noticing that even after the promotion, they still looked completely miserable.

"Ash…" Riley tugged on the red-eyed Aura Knight's tattered jacket. "Are you two okay?"

The Red Aura Knight looked at his fellow Green Aura Knight briefly and the two smiled at each other. "No," he stated, which wasn't a big surprise to them. "But we will be." The Red Knight smiled. He looked up to the sky with his friends and watched the stars as they twinkled under the ancient land. "Because Lucario's aura will always be with us!"

* * *

**AN: Well, that wraps up the first segment of this story, which was "Rockets in the Sky". Man did this take a long time to write, but I had so much fun doing it. Please leave a review and tell me your thoughts on it! I'd really appreciate it.**

**As far as the next segment of the story... it's called Crossed Lovers. As Ash and his friends continue their journey, they notice feelings being developed for one another. As these feelings develop, fights break out, arguments are had, and friendships that seemed once unbreakable tear apart at the seams. Who will pair up with who? Will someone be leaving the group? Will the dreaded "L" word get tossed around?! Find out on the next segment of "To Become a Pokémon Master: Crossed Lovers"!**

**Uh-oh, looks like I forgot to erase the names of random upcoming chapters!**

**Chapter 15: Peace and Discord**

**Chapter 16: Mega Problems**

**Chapter 19: Burning Rage**

**Chapter 20: Couples Retreat**

**Chapter 21: Lovers Quarrel**

**Chapter 22: Just Like You**


	15. Peace and Discord

To Become a Pokémon Master

Crossed Lovers

Chapter 15

Peace and Discord

We rejoin our valiant heroes after a few days of much needed rest and recuperation in the wonderful town of Rota, being honored guests in the Cameran Palace. Riley, the peaceful, but energetic Child of the Viridian Forest had the quickest walk as he practically led the group out onto Route 5. Following behind him was Serena, the calm, love-stricken girl that couldn't take her eyes at the dashing Aura Knight that graced the group with his presence. Rhys tailed behind her, putting him at the back end of the group. The children didn't know much about him, but he was very nice, knowledgeable, and helpful.

Leading the group was the Aura Knight himself, Ash Ketchum. He and his best friend, Pikachu, roared and charged into the morning sun with the Riolu Egg in his backpack, ready for a new adventure that waited before them. With his dream of becoming a Pokémon Master and his friends at his side, nothing would deter him. Well, except for a black bird that flew from the bushes like it was on fire. Ash and Pikachu flew back, bewildered by the bird that flapped its wings and squawked frantically. "Whoa!" he screamed.

Serena quickly helped the trainer up to his feet. "Ash! Are you okay?" she said, keeping hold of him after he was up, hoping he wouldn't notice, giving her time to hold him.

"I'm fine, thanks." Ash quickly said as he tore away from her light grasp and broke out his handy dandy Pokédex to identify the odd bird that flew erratically in the skies.

"Murkrow, the Darkness Pokémon. Feared and loathed by most, it is said to bring bad luck to those that see it at night. They have an attraction to shiny things and often loot Meowth's stashes."

"Wow," Riley gasped with a child-like wonder gleaming in his yellow eyes. "Thank goodness it isn't night time!" His Pokémon friends, Rattata, Caterpie, and Dedenne took a peek from underneath the boy's straw hat.

Rhys's hand rubbed the underneath of his chin as the gears inside of his head quickly turned to work up an analysis of the bird's weird behavior. "Murkrow seems to be highly distressed about something..."

"How can you tell?" Ash asked, turning to his friend.

"Just look at how it's flying. Its obviously startled about something. There's a look in its eyes that makes it seem crazed and anxious."

Ash narrowed his eyes up at the bird and indeed see it darting around from one direction to another, as if trying to get their attention. "Murkrow!" he yelled up. "What's wrong?!"

The Murkrow shrieked loudly and continued its erratic flying, apparently not even hearing the boy's yells. No matter how many times Ash would yell, the Darkness Pokémon continued its shrieking.

"I guess we'll have to reach it a different way. Pikachu, use Electro Ball!" Ash yelled.

Pikachu jumped up and whipped a ball of electricity at the Murkrow. It swiftly dodged and retorted with a hazy, black beam with a ghoulish face at the end of it that engulfed Pikachu and exploded. The Mouse Pokémon fell on a red cushion of aura conjured by his trainer.

"What in the world was that?" Ash said as he dissipated the aura field underneath Pikachu and allowed him to plant his feet safely on the ground.

"That was a move called Night Shade. Its a Ghost type attack that causes damage equivalent to how strong the user is." Rhys pointed out. "If I were you, I'd be careful."

"Got it." Ash nodded. "Maybe battling isn't the way..." he thought to himself, looking down at Pikachu who apparently took more damage than he originally thought. "Oh, I know! Pikachu, watch Murkrow and use Electro Ball where it'll be, not where it is!"

Pikachu eyed the bird's frantic movements and saw there was no pattern whatsoever to its flight, but managed to predict where it would fly next. He quickly focused electricity to the tip of his tail that took shape in a ball and flung it in front of the bird. Murkrow successfully collided with the orb of electricity and fell out of the sky.

Ash quickly grabbed an empty Great Ball from his pocket and enlarged it, also turning his hat backwards in the process. As he saw the Darkness Pokémon falling to the ground, he threw it just in time to catch it and save it from smacking into the earth with a "Go, Great Ball!". The Great Ball fell to the ground and wiggled, the Murkrow inside struggling to break free, but it soon submitted and the ball fell still. Ash quickly ran over to the Great Ball and picked up. After a quick peer at the defeated Murkrow through the transparent top, he held it up in the air and cheered "Alright! We caught a Murkrow!" Pikachu jumped up and cheered with his trainer. "Maybe he's calmed down now..." he said as he summoned his new Pokémon from the ball.

Murkrow appeared on the ground, looking up at his trainer, appearing to be much calmer than a few minutes ago.

"Hey, Murkrow! You're all calm!" Ash smiled as he knelt down to the little black bird. "Can you tel us what was wrong?"

Murkrow began to quickly flap his wings and point to the dense forest off in the distance, as if he were trying to say something about it. Everyone stood, confused at the frantic flapping and pointing of Murkrow's wings. Riley knelt down next to Ash and tried to connect with the Pokémon, but was met with the sharp, tingling refusal of it and fell back. The children stood around the bird and watched it erratically point its wings at the forest behind them.

"I think it's saying something about a bad Pokémon in the forest stealing food from others..." Rhys said, looking sceptically at the Murkrow.

"You got all of that from just him pointing at the forest?" Ash looked at his friend, surprised.

Rhys quickly shrugged his shoulders. "I guess I just have a thing for understanding Pokémon." he quickly answered.

Ash stood up with Pikachu climbing on his shoulder and looked back at the forest, fist tightened and blood broiling like a burning hot lava pit. "Well, let's go catch us a thief!" he said. As Murkrow took his spot on his new trainer's head as a guide, Ash and his friends made the delve into the deep, dense forest, ready to tackle the thief.

**. . .**

The search for the apparent thief proved to be all but fruitful. Ash and his friends were forced to stop in the forest and take a break due to complete exhaustion.

"Oh Arceus above..." Ash panted heavily, leaning against a tree, trying to catch his breath. "Murkrow, are you _sure _that the thief is this deep in?"

Murkrow flapped his wings and pointed down the train in front of them, signaling that the thief was definitely located deeper in.

Riley leaned on Ash in fatigue and used him as a support to stand up. "I'm so tired..."

While searching for this apparent thief, the group had encountered many hazards in the forest. Hazards such as a horde of Fletchling that Ash was forced to handle with Carbink's newly learned Rock Tomb, an extremely angry Ursaring that was done in by Aipom's Tickle and Power-Up Punch, and a group of Sudowoodo who apparently didn't like to be mistaken as trees when Riley decided nature called upon him that had to be handled with Bulbasaur's Vine Whip. While the hazards did make Ash's Pokémon grow exponentially, the trade off didn't feel mutual as the kids were almost out of energy.

Suddenly, a beam of light shined in Ash's eyes. As he shielded them with an open palm, he looked over to see a clearing in the forest just down the trail where Murkrow was pointing. Even though they were out of energy, the summoned the last bit of it to run as fast as they could, hoping to catch the thief.

Once they happened on the large clearing, they saw it was the gathering spot of many wild Pokémon such as Pidgey, Fletchling, Teddiursa, Rattata, and many others seeming to be at peace that caused Ash to grow slightly dubious of the Murkrow's claims as he pointed at a green bird that rested peacefully on a stump in the middle of everything. Ash quickly pulled out his Pokédex and aimed it at the new Pokémon, however, it took him a little bit due to all of the other Pokémon being in the way.

"_Tranquill, the Wild Pigeon Pokémon. No matter where in the world it goes, it can always return to its trainer. People say that where Tranquill live, deep in the forest, it is a place of peace and no war."_

"Wait..." Ash said as his eyebrows furrowed at the picture of a gray colored pigeon on his Pokédex, but an obviously green colored one resting on the stump within the peaceful clearing. "How come it's green?"

"Oh!" Rhys chimed in. "That must be a shiny Pokémon. Its rare but sometimes Pokémon can be born a different color than the rest of their species."

"Well either way, that Pokémon stole food from others and we can't have that." Ash said as he closed his Pokédex and entered the peaceful domain of the Tranquill. "Hey! Thief!" he yelled and pointed at the Wild Pigeon.

Tranquill continued its snooze, not giving the trainer any mind. A few wild Pokémon stopped and eyed Ash carefully as he continued.

"Wake up, you thief!" Ash screamed.

Tranquill slowly opened one of its eyes to see that a human was yelling angrily at it, ruining the peace of its home. It stood up on the stump to address the trainer.

"Its time you answer for your crimes, Tranquill!" Ash yelled as Pikachu jumped off his shoulder with sparks flying wildly from his cheeks. "I choose you, Pikachu, use Quick Attack!"

Pikachu quickly dashed forward and slammed his body into his opponent. Tranquill flew back, but recovered and took off in the air with a mighty flap of its wings and wild Pokémon roaring loudly in the background. As battle ensued, the peace was no more. The Wild Pigeon swooped down with a Quick Attack of its own and rammed Pikachu into a tree.

"Pikachu, are you alright?!" Ash yelled, looking back at his partner getting up to his feet, still with sparks of electricity bursting wildly from his cheeks. "Good, now use Electro Ball!"

Pikachu focused electricity into an orb on the tip of his tail and whipped it at the Wild Pigeon who was diving down for a second attack. Tranquill's senses suddenly heightened and it swiftly avoided the ball and released stream of light blue blades of air that barraged Pikachu.

"Pikachu, use Quick Attack to get out of there!"

In the midst of being pummeled with blades of air, Pikachu used the speed boost from Quick Attack and escaped the blades of air.

"Now, use Electro Ball again!"

Pikachu whipped a ball of electricity up at Tranquill, who hadn't noticed his escape from the attack and was knocked clear out of the sky.

"Finish it with Return!"

Pikachu's body glowed with a white energy. The love he had for his trainer was focused into power and he slammed into Tranquill right before it hit the ground from being hit with Electro Ball and sent it flying. The Wild Pigeon went flying through the air and hit the ground, defeated.

"Now, give back the food yo-" before Ash could finish his sentence, the wild Pokémon of the clearing lunged and began to attack them wildly. Ash managed to pull everyone together, Tranquill included, and throw up an aura barrier to protect them. The wild Pokémon bashed and hit the barrier repeatedly, so hard that it caused cracking in certain spots. Unable to take anymore, Ash focused a calming feeling throughout the barrier and expanded it, causing a non-harmful shock wave of calmness to spread all around the area. The wild Pokémon suddenly stopped their rampaging and appeared to be calm and soothed.

The dying down of the fray gave way to two things, the first being that Ash fell to the ground more exhausted than before, and the second being that upon looking over, he saw his Murkrow standing next to a large pile of gathered food in a serene euphoria.

"M- Murkrow?" Ash said as his Pokémon quickly snapped out of his euphoric state and began pilfering large amounts of food from the pile, handing it off to other Murkrow that had appeared to his aide. "What in the- you're the one that stole the food! Wait, so that means that all those hazards.. you led us through them! And you stole the food from them after we defeated them!"

Murkrow looked back with a devious gleam in his eyes and flew off with his friends into the sky with all the food.

"You get back here right now!" Ash was startled to see Tranquill take to the skies after being beat down by Pikachu and deliver a Gust attack so powerful that it blew down all of the Murkrow in the sky, causing the food they stole to fall with them. The Wild Pigeon landed in front of Ash, letting out an angry, powerful roar that had all of the black birds shaking to their tail feathers. "Tranquill, we're sorry for hurting you. We were obviously led to believe that you were the one stealing, not these Murkrow. Can we fight alongside you?"

Tranquill looked back at the boy and nodded with a confident smirk.

"Alright, Pikachu, lets teach these Murkrow a lesson! Use Electro Ball!" Ash commanded.

Pikachu whipped a ball of electricity and Tranquill flapped blades of air at the horde of Murkrow. However, before the attacks could hit, a larger Pokémon descended from the skies in a black haze and took both attacks head on, defending the thieving Darkness Pokémon.

"_Honchkrow, the Big Boss Pokémon. If one utters a deep cry, many Murkrow are said to appear by its side. For that it is called the 'Summoner of Night.'"_

"Now we're in for it..." Ash said as he looked over and saw his partner exhausted from having to battle Tranquill. "Pikachu, come back!" Pikachu returned to his trainer's shoulder and he grabbed a Poké Ball and gave it a toss. "I choose you, Carbink!"

Carbink appeared front and center, ready to take action alongside Tranquill, who was still noticeable excited.

Honchkrow let out a roar so loud that it shook the trees around the clearing. In no time flat, more Murkrow rushed to its side, ready to fight under their boss. Each one of them had a soul-piercing leer that sent shivers down Carbink and Tranquill's spines.

Ash used his aura to put a protective field around the wild Pokémon and the food, to ensure their safety. "This isn't going to be a fair fight..." he said as Honchkrow eyed him devilishly.

"Want some help?" Riley asked as he stepped to Ash's side, letting Dedenne out from underneath his hat.

"Riley!" Ash said as he looked over at the little boy who was ready to fight. "Are you sure? This is really dangerous and I-"

"Pfft." Riley interrupted. "I've been watching you long enough to know that Flying types are weak against Electric type attacks. I've got this."

Suddenly, Honchkrow took a deep breath and spewed a dark, disgusting haze all over the clearing, making it impossible to see. Ash closed his eyes and began to see the world around him in aura. He put up a protective barrier around Riley, Serena, and Rhys, and ordered for Carbink to use Rock Tomb, but to send it upwards. Carbink did as instructed and knocked four Murkrow out of the sky with boulders that smashed into them. A quick order of Dazzling Gleam to the right pierced through the smoke and hit a few more Murkrow. The dark birds began to drop like flies under Ash's orders. Taking control of Tranquill, he ordered an Air Cutter attack right above him and hit his own Murkrow. Pikachu joined in with an ordered Electro Ball behind him and hit two more Murkrow that were about to lunge at the back of Ash's necks with their beaks out. A combined Electro Ball and Rock Tomb directly in front of them smashed into the leader, Honchkrow. A finishing blow with Pikachu's Electro Ball and Dedenne's Thunder Shock took the big boss down. The black birds began to flee, shooting out of the smoke like darts being thrown at a board. Ash's senses suddenly heightened as he saw his own Murkrow trying to escape and reclaimed him by returning him to his Great Ball. It was then safe for Tranquill to use Gust to clear the Haze away without leaving themselves open. The barriers around the children, Pokémon, and food disappeared.

Ash looked firmly at Murkrow's Poké Ball and called him out. "Just what do you think you were trying to do?" he said in a stern voice, looking down at the Darkness Pokémon who obviously felt bad about his wrongdoings. "That food wasn't yours and you had no right to steal from these poor, innocent Pokémon. You go apologize right now!"

Murkrow sulkily approached Tranquill and offered his wing as a sign of peace. The Wild Pigeon looked down on him, angry and ready to attack, but saw that the black bird seemed to be truly sorry. The two birds shook wings and peace was restored to the area with a happy cheer from the wild Pokémon.

Ash knelt down to Tranquill and sighed. "Hey, we're really sorry we caused all of this trouble here today. Can you forgive us?" He held out his fist and expected a bump, but was denied and given something much greater. Tranquill dug into Ash's pocket with its wing and took out an empty Poké Ball. Ash sat there, bewildered for a minute at what he thought was Tranquill wanting to join him, but then grew a huge smile on his face and accepted the Wild Pigeon's offer. Tranquill disappeared into the Poké Ball and gladly joined Ash's team.

As peace was returned to the forest and the wild Murkrow and Honchkrow driven out of it, Ash, his friends, and their Pokémon were invited for a feast of delicious berries with the wild Pokémon. They stuffed their stomachs and gorged the night away, stuffing all sorts of berries in their mouths and partying like no other day. Even Murkrow joined in, originally standing off alone but invited by Pikachu and Tranquill. All the while the Riolu egg sat in Ash's care, moving ever so slightly. Every time it moved, Ash's heart skipped a beat. Everyone was dying for it to hatch, but until it did, they were stuck waiting. But now with two more new friends, Murkrow, the retired thief, and a rare shiny Tranquill, the peacekeeper. May they serve Ash's team well, because he'll need all the Pokémon he can get if he expects to become a Pokémon Master.


	16. Mega Problems

To Become a Pokémon Master

Crossed Lovers

Chapter 16

Mega Problems

"Hyah!" the male karate master yelled, throwing a hard-packed punch at his opponent

The female karate master slid back, having taken the attack to her face and regained her footing. With a mighty roar, she jumped and delivered a swift, powerful kick to the man's stomach. She felt the wind he knocked out of her on her foot as she landed on her feet and took a few steps back.

The man toppled down to his knees in pain, holding his stomach and trying desperately to breathe. A sudden shadow cast over him as he looked up to a see the frightening sight of his opponent standing above him. She smirked down at him and reminded him to never take his eyes off the opponent, right before raising her foot and kicking him square in the jaw. The man flew up with blood flying wildly from his mouth like a broken faucet.

"Gotcha!" an unfamiliar voice to them screamed as the man landed on a red cushion of odd energy that protected him from slamming into the ground. The karate masters looked back to see a strange boy in tattered clothing with a yellow rat on his shoulder and red energy bursting from his fingertips. Behind him were three other odd-looking children, but dressed way better than him.

"Excuse me!" the female karate master cried out angrily. "Just what do you think you're doing?!"

The boy recalled the strange aura inside his body and allowed the man to be laid safely on the ground. "I saved him! How come you're beating him up?!"

"You fool!" the man yelled back at him as he struggled to his feet. "There is no honor in outside help! How _dare _you interfere with our training session!"

"Training session?" the boy cocked his head in confusion. "But she just kicked you in the jaw!"

"This is how karate masters train, you ignorant boy!" the female karate master yelled.

"Ignorant?!" the boy's eyebrows furrowed wildly at the insult.

"Yes." the man said, glaring at the boy. "IGNORANT."

"Why I oughta-" the boy started. Sensing his trainer's anger rising, the yellow rat jumped off his shoulder and released small sparks of electricity from its cheeks. "I'll show you how ignorant I really am in a battle!"

The man simply scoffed and unhooked a Poké Ball from his black belt, shaking his head condescendingly at the young boy. "Quick to anger is quick to underestimating your opponents. But I shall accept your battle!" He tossed the Poké Ball and called forth a fighting Pokémon with boxing gloves as hands. It moved around the battlefield skillfully and quickly as if it were moving on air. The boy took out an odd, red box and pointed it at the opponent.

"Hitmonchan, the Punching Pokémon. The spirit of a pro boxer has infused with this Pokémon. It throws punches faster than a bullet train and hard enough to pulverize pure concrete. It rests after three minutes of fighting."

"Hmph." the man said with a raise of an eyebrow in curiosity. "A Pokédex? Perhaps it may have been I that has underestimated the opponent. You may have the first move, boy!"

"My name's not boy!" the boy yelled angrily. "I'm Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town, and you're about to be sorry you called me ignorant! Pikachu, use Quick Attack!"

The yellow rat who had been identified as Pikachu began to dash around the field with amazing speed.

"Hitmonchan, keep it at bay with Vacuum Wave!" the karate master yelled.

Hitmonchan whirled his fist and sent a wave of pure vacuum that struck the ground where Pikachu was about to run, causing him to stop and change direction. Wave after wave was sent out, pushing the yellow rat all the way back to his trainer's feet.

"Excellent! Now, use Mind Reader!"

Hitmonchan stood still, eying his opponent and tightening his focus. He began to see a future event that played out in his head about what the yellow rat would do next.

Ash stood and saw the opponent wide open and called for an attack. "Pikachu, quick, while he can't move, use Quick Attack!"

Pikachu dashed forward and slammed his body into Hitmonchan, knocking it back a little, but not enough to take him off his feet. Hitmonchan had gathered all the information he needed from Mind Reader and was ready for another attack.

"Hitmonchan, use Mega Punch!"

"Pikachu, dodge it!"

The Punching Pokémon had foreseen the dodging methods that Pikachu would take in order to evade the attack. As the yellow rat moved right, Hitmonchan stuck his arm out in front of Pikachu's path and thrusted, punching the rat in its side and sending it flying across the field, knocked out.

Ash and Riley ran over to Pikachu and picked him up, seeing he had taken a lot of damage from the powerful attack.

The male karate master approached the two boys and fed a Sitrus Berry to the little mouse. He quickly regained strength and felt as good as new. "Young man," the karate master said. "I am sorry for my words earlier. You and your Pikachu put up a great fight."

"Oh come on," the female karate master said. "Now you're just being a pampering sore winner."

"You'll have to excuse my sister," he said, helping the two boys up to their feet. "She can be a little rash and unforgiving at times. I am called Panchi, and she is called Kukki. Both of us are karate masters and have been studying martial arts ever since we were little children."

"Sure, give them a history lesson, why don't you?" Kukki said, groaning loudly and folding her arms.

"Ash, if it is okay with you, I would like your help." Panchi said. "There has been an ongoing argument between me and my sister over what move is better, Mega Punch or Mega Kick."

"How am I going to help?" Ash asked confusedly.

Panchi thought for a moment and looked down at the boy's Pikachu with a smile. "Your Pikachu is capable of learning both Mega Punch and Mega Kick. However, if we're going to settle this dispute fairly, we would need a second Pokémon that can learn one of the moves. Do you happen to have a Pokémon with strong arms or legs?"

Ash took out the remaining four of his Poké Balls and looked at them. Having had to have sent Murkrow back to Professor Oak due to having a full team, he was left with Bulbasaur, Aipom, Carbink, and Tranquill. Neither Bulbasaur, Carbink, or Tranquill appeared to have strong arms or legs, however, the fist on Aipom's tail had already proven to be quite powerful with Power-Up Punch. "Will my Aipom work?" he asked.

Panchi nodded and the boy called out his Aipom front and center. "Now, your Pikachu can learn Mega Kick and your Aipom can learn Mega Punch. I can teach your Aipom Mega Punch while my sister teaches your Pikachu Mega Kick. Does that sound suitable?"

"Yeah!" Ash smiled. He turned to the little boy at his side and handed him his Pikachu. "Hey, Riley, can you go over there with Pikachu to learn Mega Kick with Kukki?"

Riley nodded happily and rushed over to the woman who did not look pleased to have to watch after a little child and a rat. "Alright, listen here, runt and rat," Kukki said, annoyed."I don't care how young you are, I won't have tears from you or that Pikachu, got it?"

Riley confirmed with a quick nod, slightly intimidated by the girl's harsh tone and guidelines. "Yes, ma'am."

"That's _Master _to you, runt."

"Y- yes, Master!" the little boy stammered nervously.

Kukki took out a Poké Ball and called forth a Pokémon that appeared to be a kicking demon, throwing kicks in the air and stretching its legs to unbelievable lengths.

"_Hitmonlee, the Kicking Pokémon. The legs freely contract and stretch. The stretchy legs allow them to hit distant foes with a single kick. If it starts to kick repeatedly, its legs will stretch even further to strike fleeing foes."_

"NOW." Kukki screamed. "You must focus all of your power into one foot. Feel the energy flow throughout your body and down to your toes. Once you have it, strike with all your might!" She watched as the runt and the rat tightened their focus and began to throw kicks , but there didn't seem to be any power behind them. With a loud groan, the woman ordered her Hitmonlee to show them.

Riley and Pikachu watched as Hitmonlee stood motionless for a second, concentrating as hard as he possibly could. His foot began to glow white with power and immediately struck a rock far off in the distance, shattering it into tiny pieces.

While that was going on, Ash and Aipom were having a much more gentle approach with Panchi.

"Now," Panchi started. "You must concentrate and feel the energy flowing within your body. Once you have got a feel for it, begin guiding it up and through your arms."

Ash and Aipom struggled to guide the energy inside of them toward their arms.

"Next, once you feel the energy within your hand, punch your foe with the energy expanding outward like an explosion of force."

Upon throwing a punch, Ash accidentally sent a blast of aura that struck a rock off in the distance and Aipom wound up just attacking with a regular Power-Up Punch.

Both karate masters saw they had their work cut out for them as they trained throughout the day, punching and kicking with all their might.

**. . .**

As evening fell upon the world, Ash and Riley still struggled to learn the new moves, punching and kicking as hard as they possibly could. Unfortunately, no sign was shown that the boys and their Pokémon were even remotely close to learning the attacks.

Meanwhile, Serena and Rhys sat off to the side, playing the rest of Ash's and Riley's Pokémon, along with all of their own.

Serena let out a sigh as her Fennekin hopped in her lap and curled up for a nap.

"Is everything alright, Serena?" Rhys asked as he looked over at her, appearing to be sullen slightly.

The girl shrugged her shoulders and popped a most unusual question that not even Rhys would have expected. "What do you think of Ash?"

"What do you mean?" Rhys scratched his head in confusion.

"I mean... well just what do you think of him? Cool? Stupid?"

"Oh." Rhys sighed with a smile. "I think Ash is a pretty nice trainer. He loves Pokémon, that's for sure. Why do you ask?"

Serena's face began to turn slightly red with embarrassment as she looked over at him and his Aipom throwing punches like no tomorrow. "It's just that..."

Rhys sat, waiting for her to finish, but he could see that she became lost in staring at him. Her big, blue eyes fixated on the boy as he determinedly struggled with his Pokémon. Sweat glistened off his forehead as he'd taken his tattered jacket off, revealing his black tank top and muscles beginning to slightly bulge with sweat shining in the sun. She suddenly snapped back to reality upon hearing Rhys snap his fingers at her. "Serena!" he called out.

"Hm?!" she said, whipping her head back around at him.

"It's just that...?" Rhys said, trying to get her to finish.

"Oh, it's nothing." Serena said, smiling nervously and trying to hide her blushing face.

Suddenly, two wild cheers broke the awkwardness of the conversation as Serena and Rhys looked over to see both Ash and Riley celebrating for some reason.

"We did it!" Ash said, picking up Aipom and twirling her around in his arms. "We did a Mega Punch!"

Riley and Pikachu hugged each other tightly and jumped up and down in glee, yelling "We learned Mega Kick!"

Panchi and Kukki suddenly glared at each other with angry eyes. Each one of them turned to their student and requested that they battle in order to test the strength of the newly learned moves.

Ash and Riley took their places on the battlefield.

"This feels odd... battling you." Ash said.

Riley sighed and folded his arms as Pikachu walked out in front of him and stood, ready to fight with electricity sparking from his cheeks. "Tell me about it... I've never really liked battling all that much in the first place. But I dunno, maybe it's kinda growing on me after watching you. Maybe if we beat you, I'll like it some more! Pikachu, use Mega Kick!"

Pikachu charged down the field and jumped up, crashing down on Aipom with a powerful kick that slammed her into the ground, having been taken completely off guard.

"Hah! My Mega Kick packs way more power than your Mega Punch ever will!" Kukki said, taunting her brother.

"Oh, so its gonna be like that then, huh?!" Ash smiled. "Aipom, show them your Mega Punch!"

Aipom dashed across the battlefield and with a devilish smile, delivered a Mega Punch to Pikachu's gut, tossing it upward in the air with incredible power.

"Well," Panchi said, turning to his sister. "Looks like my Mega Punch is more powerful!" he gloated.

Riley looked at Pikachu who was flung into the sky and now falling down helplessly. "Crash down on it with a Mega Kick!"

"Aipom, meet that with Mega Punch!"

Pikachu flipped and focused energy toward his foot as it began to glow with white energy, ready to strike his opponent. Aipom tightened the fist on her tail and focused her power to it, causing it to glow a bright white, ready to smack the Mouse Pokémon with it.

Right as the two attacks were about to collide, a large, purple snake darted from the bushes up in the air and captured Pikachu in its fangs. Everyone gasped in complete awe as they watched the snake fall to the ground and bite down on Pikachu as if he were its dinner. Ash quickly took out his Pokédex to assess the situation.

"_Arbok, the Cobra Pokémon. To intimidate foes, it will spread its chest out wide and make eerie noises by expelling air from its mouth. The pattern on its belly appears to be a frightening face and is said to send weak foes fleeing after just one glance."_

"Pikachu!" Ash cried out.

Panchi and Kukki watched in horror as the Cobra Pokémon began trying to devour the poor Pikachu. They looked at each other and instantly knew something had to be done. Setting their differences aside, they called forth their Pokémon, Hitmonchan and Hitmonlee.

"Hitmonchan, use Mega Punch!"

"Hitmonlee, use Mega Kick!"

Both of the fighting Pokémon delivered harsh blows to the cobra's stomach, causing it to spit out Pikachu along with saliva, vomit, and the wind that was knocked out of it. Before being sent flying back by the two attacks, Arbok managed to whip the two fighting Pokémon with its tail, sending them flying back as well. Pikachu quickly rushed back to his trainer's side and joined Aipom in the battle.

"Now, Pikachu, use Mega Kick and Aipom, use Mega Punch!"

Both of the Pokémon began charging toward the large snake, but one they caught a glimpse of the scary pattern on its belly, the two stopped in their tracks and quivered in fear. They stood there, unmoving, completely scared stiff by the horrible face on Arbok's stomach. Arbok recovered from the blow and set its eyes on Pikachu once again, slithering toward him quickly while he and Aipom stood there, frozen with fear.

Ash saw Arbok closing in and began to panic. "Pikachu! Aipom! Don't let fear hold you back! You can't let it eat Pikachu!"

But nothing seemed to give the two Pokémon any hope as the Cobra Pokémon quickly closed in, bearing its sharp fangs at Pikachu.

"Look past your fears!" Ash yelled. "Pikachu, do you really want to be its dinner?! And Aipom, would you really just stand there and let your friend get eaten?!"

Suddenly, Pikachu and Aipom snapped out of their petrified states and roared up at the cobra that looked ready to devour them.

"Together, use Mega Punch and Mega Kick!"

Pikachu and Aipom combined their forces and gave the cobra a hard punch and kick to the chest, knocking it down and defeating it.

Ash saw the large snake beginning to slither away quickly in defeat. He turned his hat backwards and narrowed his eyes at it, grabbing an empty Great Ball. "Oh no you don't! Go, Great Ball!"

With a quick toss, the Great Ball captured the fleeing Arbok and fell to the ground, shaking with the snake's efforts to break free. It soon saw the resistance was futile and accepted the capture, allowing Ash to pick it up. Once he peered inside the Great Ball and saw the sulking Cobra Pokémon, he held it up in the air and cheered along with his Pokémon "Alright! We caught an Arbok!" However, the Poké Ball soon disappeared in his hands, being sent back to Professor Oak because of his full team.

Panchi and Kukki both placed a friendly hand on Ash's shoulder and smiled at each other.

"Ash," Panchi started. "That was incredible. You and your Pokémon both work great together."

"Eh, not too bad for a novice." Kukki smiled. "Just be sure you keep training those two moves, alright?"

Ash nodded and thanked the two karate masters. "Thank you two so much. Without you guys, we never would have learned Mega Punch or Mega Kick and Pikachu would have gotten eaten!"

"You are very much welcome." Panchi bowed to him as a sign of respect. "May our travels unite us again."

"Oh and..." Kukki leaned down to Ash and Riley and gave them both a small peck on the cheek. "That's for being good little students." With a wink, the two karate masters and their Pokémon disappeared off into the evening.

The two boys were left standing there, blushing like idiotic school children as Serena, Rhys, and their Pokémon rejoined them.

"Well.. that was certainly something." Rhys snickered, nudging Ash by his shoulder.

Ash and Riley both fell to the ground, fainting from the woman's kiss. Shivers of jealousy shot up Serena's spine as the children began to set up camp for the night. The day began to draw to a close and the kids began to get some shuteye. Or at least they tried to- Ash and Riley were still extremely excited from Kukki's kiss, which annoyed Serena, but eventually they all fell asleep. Having learned two new moves and adding yet another addition to his arsenal, Ash was on his way to becoming a Pokémon Master. As he slept, dreams of his upcoming gym battle blazed in his head like a wildfire, wondering what type the leader specialized in. He'd soon find out tomorrow.

* * *

**AN: ****Wondering about all of Ash's obtained Pokémon? Here they all are, complete with gender, history, personalities, and movesets!**

**Ash's obtained Pokémon as of Chapter 16 (Format: Name, Gender/Ability (Held Item)) (A * symbolizes a Shiny Pokémon)**

**Pikachu (Male)/Static Light Ball:** Pikachu was Ash's first Pokémon obtained in Chapter 2, however, he was originally intended for Gary to have. At first, Pikachu was hostile toward him and wouldn't obey his orders, but thanks to Riley's powers, Ash grew to understand Pikachu and the two have become the best of friends. It was revealed that Pikachu used to belong to a pack of Pikachu and Raichu, but was thrown out. Then he was caught by Jessie and James of Team Rocket, but was thrown out once again after being experimented on. As a result, no one knows what exactly Team Rocket did to him yet. He's Ash's main Pokémon and without a doubt, his most used. However, it does sometimes live up to its frailty and can be defeated by powerful opponents. Pikachu's current moves are Quick Attack, Electro Ball, Return, and the newly learned Mega Kick.

**Bulbasaur (Male)/Overgrow: **Having a history of disobeying his previous trainers, Bulbasaur was repeatedly brought back to Professor Oak because they couldn't put up with him anymore. After seeing Ash's bravery in catching his Pikachu when he fell off a cliff, he decided to join him in Chapter 3. As they began traveling and met Riley, Ash was shown that the only reason Bulbasaur disobeyed his previous trainers so often was because when they came across bad Pokémon, they wer often either let go or his trainer or Pokémon would sometimes join in and be bad along with them. After understanding that, Ash vowed to never let another bad Pokémon get away and worked with Bulbasaur. Bulbasaur soon became a vital member of Ash's team. Being owned by many trainers already, Bulbasaur is more powerful than the standard starter Pokémon and has been trained vigorously in hi speed, making him faster than most Bulbasaur out there. His moves are Headbutt, String Shot, Vine Whip, and Razor Leaf.

**Aipom (Female)/Technician: **Originally a mischievous Pokémon, Aipom stole Ash's hat. He spent all day tracking her down and eventually defeated with Bulbasaur and captured her in Chapter 4. Ever since her capture, Aipom, while understanding that what she did was wrong, still maintains a very playful personality and has a lot of energy. Whenever she's called upon in battle, she'll often tickle Ash before actually going out into the battle. Despite her antics, Aipom is a fast and powerful battler that Ash relies on whenever he needs a lot of power. Her moves are Fury Swipes, Power-Up Punch, Tickle, and the newly learned Mega Kick.

**Carbink/Clear Body: **When venturing toward Mt. Moon, Ash stumbled upon Carbink in trouble. He protected it from Team Rocket who were after it and the Time Flower it held. Ash later caught it in between Chapter 12 and 13. Carbink is a very nice, gentle Pokémon, but can also hold its own in battle with its high defenses and attack, but has low speed. While not originally stated in Chapter 14, upon Ash's activation of a Time Flower that played a flashback of Sir Aaron protecting a Carbink, Ash's Carbink is actually that very same Carbink, making it over 5,000 years old. Its approximate age is 5,489 years old, however, it never started battling until it joined Ash. Its moves are Rock Tomb taught in between Chapter 13 and 14 with TM39, Harden, Tackle, and Dazzling Gleam.

**Murkrow (Male)/Prankster: **Ash was led to believe by Murkrow that he caught in Chapter 15 that a Tranquill was stealing food from Pokémon in the forest on Route 4. This was soon revealed to be a hoax when Murkrow with his crew were the ones stealing food. After defeating the crew and letting them flee, Ash used his Aura Sight to identify his Murkrow and stopped it from escaping. Much like Aipom, Murkrow has a very mischievous nature, but also unlike Aipom, has reformed and become a good Pokémon under Ash's command. His moves are Peck, Night Shade, Haze, and Assurance.

**Tranquill* (Female)/Super Luck: **Tranquill was originally the peacekeeper of the forest on Route 4. Ash mistok it as a thief and challenged it, but once he soon saw how wrong he was, Tranquill teamed up with Ash to take down the real thieves. After witnessing Ash's strength, Tranquill chose to go along with him in Chapter 15. She's a very strong battler and often roars to intimidate her opponents. Her moves are Quick Attack, Gust, Detect, and Air Cutter.

**Arbok (Female)/Intimidate:** While training to learn Mega Punch and Mega Kick, Arbok appeared and mistook Pikachu as prey, trying to eat him. She managed to intimidate Pikachu and Aipom with the frightening pattern on her belly, but the two soon overcame their fears and defeated Arbok, leading to her capture in Chapter 16. She's a powerful Pokémon for Ash to have captured early on in his adventure and is sure to serve as a major powerhouse for him in later battles to come. Her moves are Poison Sting, Glare, and Crunch.

**Riolu Egg: **In Chapter 14, Ash and Lucario were forced to restart the Tree of Beginning, causing everything connected to the tree to be reset along with it. This means that Lucario was reborn into a Riolu Egg, which Ash obtained near the end of Chapter 14. Ash has been given the task of looking after it and giving Riolu the life that was taken away from it as a Lucario being sealed up in the staff for thousands of years. It is not known when the egg will hatch, but it resides in Ash's backpack and will occasionally move around.


	17. Can't Clip Our Wings!

To Become a Pokémon Master

Crossed Lovers

Chapter 17

Can't Clip Our Wings!

"Murkrow, use Peck!" Ash called out.

"Tranquill, dodge with Quick Attack!" Riley commanded.

The black bird flew up in the sky and dove down with his beak ready to jab the pigeon. Tranquill used the added speed from Quick Attack to dodge the attack and quickly turned around, slamming her body into the Darkness Pokémon. Murkrow was pushed back, but completely recovered.

"Now, use Haze!"

Murkrow inhaled deeply and expelled a dark, foggy mist from his beak, covering the battlefield in a murky, blinding smoke.

"Get rid of it with Gust!"

The green Wild Pigeon began flapping her wings vigorously, kicking up strong winds that quickly blew away the Haze. However, once it was gone her opponent was nowhere to be found on the battlefield. Her and her temporary trainer searched all around in every direction, but couldn't find any sight of the black bird anywhere.

Ash grew a smirk and folded his arms. "Can't seem to find Murkrow, can you?"

Riley shook his head and kept looking around. "Where'd he go?"

Ash pointed up to the sky with his thumb. "Go, Murkrow, use Peck!"

Murkrow appeared in front f the sun and dove down, ready to drive his beak into Tranquill, when suddenly, he felt the overwhelming urge to begin spinning his body like a high-powered drill with his beak out in front of him. Picking up speed, Murkrow slammed into Tranquill beak first and knocked her out of the sky. The black bird flew back to his trainer's side where he was greeted with a happy high-five.

Having made it to Rifure Village just outside Gardenia Town, we rejoin with our heroes in the midst of some training. After meeting Frederik, the man that makes the Pokémon Gym Badges for Kanto and his Espeon, Ash was informed that the Gardenia Town Gym Leader specialized in Bug type Pokémon. He decided then that it was time to train and hone his skills before running off and challenging the leader like his previous two battles. Because of that, something good in the form of Carbink being able to learn Reflect and Light Screen earlier, along with Murkrow now having learned Drill Peck never made Ash feel more sure that he could pull off a win.

"Wow, Murkrow, good job! You learned Drill Peck!" Ash cheered happily. "Now there's no way we can lose!"

Murkrow smiled happily high-fiving his trainer once again. But the two were soon interrupted by Tranquill, who stood at her trainer's feet, eying the black bird on his shoulder carefully. On the ground in between the two, Pikachu watched the exchange of tense looks for a few seconds until Murkrow flew down and landed in front of the pigeon. Tranquill looked away and extended her wing out to him as a sign of peace and friendship. Murkrow happily shook wings with the peacekeeper and the two had become friends. Or at least on good terms. Carbink happily floated over to the two and orbited around the peaceful feeling that wafted from the wing shake.

"Well, looks like you're in tip top shape for challenging that gym leader." Rhys said with a smile as he and Serena approached the two young boys. "We just got done doing some shopping in Gardenia Town."

"They had so many little stands in their market place it was unbelievable." Serena chimed in.

"Did you guys happen to see where the gym was while you were there?" Ash asked, returning all but Pikachu into their Poké Balls.

Serena nodded her head and took Ash by the wrist, almost wanting to move down and hold his hand as she tugged him along down the road. "I sure did!" she winked. "Come on, I'll show you!"

**. . .**

As evening fell on the world, Ash flew open the doors to the Gardenia Town Pokémon Gym with his usual loud, obnoxious swagger and demanded a challenge from the gym leader, whoever it was.

"Ash..." Serena sighed. "We're in a small, empty room..." she pointed out. "Do you really think that someone's gonna hear you?"

Ash stopped his yelling and realized that she was right. The four were stuck in a small, empty, white room with no doors and no hope to be heard by anyone.

A rather large man dressed in a Hawaiian shirt, khakis, and brown loafers stepped into the room with them. He tipped his black sunglasses at the boy with the Pikachu and raised an eyebrow. "You here to challenge Chou?"

"If that's the gym leader, then yeah!" Ash nodded, ready to go. "Who are you?"

"I'm Scott." The man smiled, pulling his sunglasses back over his eyes. "I'm searchin' for talent in Kanto."

"Hey!" Riley said, tugging the man's shirt.

"What's up, little girl?"

Riley folded his arms as his face turned red with anger. "I'm a boy!" he yelled. "And if you're looking for talent, then you've gotta check Ash out!"

Scott turned towards the boy with the Pikachu on his shoulder and raised another eyebrow. "You Ash?"

"Yeah." he nodded.

"Ash Ketchum?"

"Yeah." he nodded again.

"Well, after your little stunt in Pallet Town put you on the news, I've been dying to see what you're made of. Looks like I finally get to see." Scott smirked as he found a door hidden in the wall and opened it. "Right through here," he said, presenting them the Pokémon Gym.

Ash and his friends stepped in to see themselves in a large, green dome with a huge spider web that traversed around the dome through various platforms and up to a large stage where the gym leader sat, looking down at them, waiting for the show to begin.

"Welcome to the Gardenia Gym." Scott said. "Challengers have to cross the web maze in order to face the Gym Leader. Whether or not you run into any Gym Trainers depends entirely on the paths you take."

Ash handed Pikachu to Riley and called out Tranquill, Murkrow, and Carbink. "Well, guys, let's get moving!"

The determined boy and his Pokémon began navigating across the web maze while his friends cheered him on from the stands. Scott sat with a pencil and paper, ready to take notes on the boy's performance today.

The time was soon nigh when Ash came across a small boy named Benjamin, who he actually challenged first instead of allowing the trainer to challenge him. As Ash stepped on the platform and tapped the boy's shoulder, the battle immediately began.

Ash called forth his Carbink and Benjamin summoned a green, shell-like Pokémon from a Poké Ball.

"Metapod, the Cocoon Pokémon. A steel-hard shell protects its tender body. It quietly endures hardships while awaiting evolution."

"Carbink, use Rock Tomb!"

"Iron Defense!"

Carbink summoned rocks that fell from the sky down onto Metapod who had already managed to harden his shell to an iron-like density. The rocks flimsily bounced off the Cocoon Pokémon's body as if they were small pebbles.

"Get that mess outta here!" Benjamin taunted. "Metapod, use String Shot!"

Metapod spun a sticky thread that wrapped around Cabink and weighed it down to the ground, practically motionless.

Ash laughed at the sight and let out a happy smirk. "Pfft! Carbink doesn't need any arms or legs to pull off its attacks! Use Rock Tomb on yourself!"

Everyone, gym leader and Scott included, gasped at Ash's unorthodox order. Rocks began to fall on Carbink, damaging it slightly, but managed to cut off the sticky threads that covered its body, allowing it to be mobile again.

"Now, since Metapod's defenses are up, we'll do a special attack! Use Dazzling Gleam!"

Carbink let out a flashy pink beam that engulfed Metapod and took it out in one hit.

Benjamin sadly returned his Pokémon, congratulated the trainer, and pointed him in the right direction. Ash and his Pokémon hopped along the web quickly in order to move on to the next battle. Suddenly, a careless misplacement of his foot caused him to slip and fall off the web. He looked down to see nothing but pitch black underneath him. Tranquill and Murkrow grabbed him by his tattered jacket and Carbink got under him and helped him back up onto the web.

"Thanks guys!" he smiled, high-fiving each one of them. Well, except Carbink because it doesn't have any arms.

The next trainer he happened upon was a sprite, young lass named Alexa. As he landed on the platform, their eyes met and the battle immediately began with her Spinarak up against his Murkrow.

"_Spinarak, the String Spit Pokémon. It spits a fine, but durable thread. It then lies in the same position patiently for days for prey to fall victim to the its web or to at least wander a bit too close."_

"Take that bird down with Scary Face!"

"Counter that with Night Shade!"

Spinarak used the black spots on its back to create a frightening face at the black bird, but it was soon out-scared by the horrific face at the end of Murkrow's Night Shade. Coupled with being scared, the String Spit Pokémon flew back from the force of the attack, but managed to and on its feet.

"Show them your own Night Shade, Spinarak!"

Spinarak shot a black blob of shadowy mess that took form of a large, terrifying mouth that made Murkrow quiver down to his tail feathers. The mouth chomped down and engulfed him completely, causing an explosion of power and the bird to fall down to the platform.

"Murkrow!" Ash yelled. "Can you still battle?" He watched the Darkness Pokémon struggle to his feet and made the choice to call it back. "Come on, you've done enough. Good job, Murkrow." Carbink rushed onto the scene and picked Murkrow up, floating him back to his trainer's arms for much needed rest. "I choose you, Tranquill! Show them what you're made of!"

Tranquill quickly bolted past her trainer and took her place above the battlefield, letting out a proud, powerful roar that shook even the platform. She puffed out her chest and looked down on her opponent with eyes of a winner.

"Blow it away with Gust!"

The Wild Pigeon flapped her wings powerfully, blowing away the poor spider that tried desperately to gain its footing.

"Bring yourself back to the field with String Shot!" Alexa cried.

As Spinarak saw itself being blown over the murky blackness that was the pit of the gym, it quickly spun a thread that stuck to the platform and drew itself back to it. Upon landing, it stuck itself to the battlefield with its fine thread to ensure not being blown away by the order of its trainer.

Ash put his hands on his hips and began to assess the situation. Spinarak was now webbed to the ground so it couldn't be blown away. "But it can't move...Tranquill, use Air Cutter!"

Tranquill flew up and rained down sharp razors of air from her wings that barraged the immobile String Spit Pokémon until it was pronounced defeated.

Alexa returned her fainted Spinarak and approached the challenger. "Good job." she said, shaking his hand. "You've defeated all the gym trainers. Now... I'm supposed to show you the correct way to the Gym Leader."

"Please don't tell me you're gonna do something else..." Ash sighed, bracing himself for whatever was about to happen.

"Actually, the Gym Leader is right up there." She said, pointing up to the platform that stood in the middle of the web with the gym leader looking down on them. "But you can't get to him on the web."

Ash and his Pokémon all cocked their heads in confusion. "What do you mean? How do I get to him then?" he asked.

Alexa stretched her arms outward and gave the challenger a not-so-gentle shove that caused him to unexpectedly go flying over the edge of the platform and into the murky darkness below. It all happened so fast that Tranquill, Murkrow, and Carbink barely had any time to react until they saw it was too late. Ash had already hit the bottom floor of the gym with a loud thud.

However, it turned out that the fall wasn't very long at all. In fact, Ash only fell a few feet before slamming on the dark concrete that seemed to be the floor of the gym. "What the...?"

The web and platforms above him suddenly began to lower until they disappeared into the floor. Benjamin and Alexa were nice enough to help Ash up to his feet as the gym floor suddenly changed from a black, fake pit into a grassy field with fake trees covered in webs began to come up from underneath the concrete.

And there stood the Gym Leader, a young boy who looked not even older than Riley with a white tank top, blue shorts, a straw hat, and a bug-catching net draped over his shoulders. He approached Ash and sized him up, being much smaller than him. "Well, well," the leader said.

Ash tried to hold back his laughter, but couldn't and let out a loud guffaw at the sight of the Gardenia Town Gym Leader. "You're supposed to be the Gym Leader?! Just some kid?"

Chou delivered a harsh blow to the challenger's stomach with his fist. As he toppled over to his height, he caught the boy with a finger underneath his chin and whispered in his ear "Never talk down to a leader." He quickly jumped back and unhinged a Poké Ball from his belt. "Challenger! Take your place and allow us to begin!"

Ash, however, fell to his knees, sucking on air as he held his stomach, unable to walk.

Serena, Riley, and Pikachu nearly bolted up from their seats in the stands, but found themselves being held back by Scott's large arm. "No," he said. "This is Ash's battle. Not yours."

The challenger struggled to his feet and walked slowly to his spot on the battlefield, managing to take his place, but still in a bit of pain.

Alexa took her spot in the middle of the battlefield as the referee. "The three on three battle between the Gym Leader of the Gardenia Town Gym, Chou, and Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town will now begin! Only the challenger is allowed to freely switch Pokémon!"

"You think you can just come in here and mock my size?!" Chou angrily yelled. "Where's your respect, challenger? You forget that _I'm _the one who's the leader here! You're lucky I still accepted your challenge! Let's see if your battling skills are as big as that mouth of yours! Go, Shuckle!" With a toss of his Poké Ball, the Gym Leader called forth a yellow bug that hid inside of a sturdy, red shell that looked to be harder than diamond. The challenger took out his Pokédex to analyze the foe.

"_Shuckle, the Mold Pokémon. To avoid attacks, it hides in its shell beneath rocks and remains completely still. It can store berries in its jar-like shell that eventually become a tasty juice."_

"A friend of mine taught me to never underestimate my opponent." Ash stated valiantly. "And I'm sorry for doing just that. I had no right to call you short. A leader is a leader and we'll give you our all! I choose you, Carbink!"

Carbink floated past its trainer and took its spot on the battlefield, ready to go.

"It has been determined that Chou gets the first move on the account of the challenger being a jerk!" Alex yelled.

"Hey!" Ash angrily cried out.

"Let the battle begin!"

"We'll show you and your little fairy that you can't squash us with rocks! Shuckle, use Sticky Web!"

"Counter with Dazzling Gleam!"

Shuckle spat globs of thread that were all but destroyed by Carbink's bright, pink beam. The attack slammed into Shuckle's shell as he retreated inward, receiving little to no damage from it.

"Get out here and fight us!" Ash yelled.

"Hah!" Chou scoffed. "Sometimes the best offense is defense! Shuckle, use Stealth Rock!"

"Carbink, trap it with Rock Tomb!"

Rocks flew back and forth across the field as Carbink sent rocks landed all around Shuckle, trapping him and Shuckle sent rocks that remained floating above Cabink.

Ash stopped and looked up at the floating rocks with a smirk. "Not much of an attack if misses! Carbink, use Rock Tomb!"

Shuckle tried to retreat into his shell, but it still didn't change the fact that it was trapped as boulders rained down on it from the sky repeatedly. Chou just stood there, watching his Pokémon endure hit after hit until it eventually fell to the barrage of attacks.

"Chou's Shuckle is unable to battle! Ash's Carbink is the winner!"

"We did it!" Ash and Carbink celebrated. "Like our Rock Tomb strategy? We learned it from Brock!" Ash smiled. Having seen that the Jewel Pokémon had enough, he called it back to his side, allowing it to exchange places with Murkrow. But as Murkrow flew out onto the field, the spiky rocks that remained floating in the air suddenly moved and slammed right into him, dealing serious damage.

Chou returned his Pokémon and grew a mischievous smirk on his face. "Heh... Did it hit _now?"_ he taunted the challenger. "Stealth Rock is a move that damages any Pokémon switching into battle!"

"Murkrow!" Ash gasped as the black bird struggled to stay in the air, but looked back and assured his trainer with a smile that he could still battle. "That's what I like to see! Then I choose you, Murkrow!"

The Gym Leader unhinged a second Poké Ball from his waist and called out a small,yellow bug that looked too small to see unless Ash squinted his eyes at him. It was so small in fact that he had trouble getting a read of it on the Pokédex.

"_Joltik, the Attaching Pokémon. Since it can't generate its own electricity, it sticks onto large-bodied Pokémon and saps their electricity."_

"Let the second round begin!"

"We'll clip your wings if you think you can defeat us with a Flying type! Joltik, use String Shot!"

"Dodge it!"

Joltik spun a sticky thread that headed straight for Murkrow, but he thankfully flew out of the way before it could hit him.

"Use Haze!"

Murkrow inhaled deeply and released a black, ominous smoke from his beak that covered the battlefield, making it impossible for Joltik to see.

"Now, show them your new move! Use Drill Peck!"

The black bird began to spiral downward, cutting through the pitch-black smoke and saw his target in his eyes as he closed in.

"Joltik, use Electroweb!"

Suddenly, Joltik shot an electrically charged web that hit Murkrow perfectly. Ash gasped, wondering how that was possible with the limited visibility of Haze.

"Hah, once again I've caught you off guard." Chou smirked."Joltik's ability is Compoundeyes, which boost its accuracy. That means it can see perfectly no matter what, even in Haze."

Murkrow fell to the ground, covered in a yellow web that continuously shocked him. Ash sucked in air and was forced to return him inside his Poké Ball. "Carbink, I choose you!"

Carbink took its spot on the battlefield. As the rocks began to collide on its body, Ash called for it to use Reflect, but the damage didn't seem to be minimized in any way. Albeit Carbink was a Rock type, it still looked as if it took a little damage when Reflect should have taken away all damage completely.

"Oh come on." Chou groaned. "Everyone knows that you can't use Reflect to stop Stealth Rock!"

Ash tightened his fists angrily as aura began swell up inside of him like a storm. "I know!" he growled. "Carbink, use Light Screen too!"

In addition to Reflect, Carbink threw up a second barrier that disappeared, shrouding itself and the team in it.

Chou folded his arms and furrowed one of his eyebrows. "This kid... Joltik, use Giga Drain"

Green tentacles shot from Joltik and wrapped around Carbink, dealing a super-effective hit and sapping its energy, giving it to the little Attaching Pokémon. However, Light Screen came back up and shielded half the damage, only giving Joltik a little bit of energy.

"Carbink doesn't even seem phased by it... Hurry, while its attacking, use Dazzling Gleam on the ground in front of it!"

Carbink roared and shot a pink beam that exploded the ground in front of the little bug, kicking up a large dust cloud. Joltik was thrown back by the force, but managed to land on his feet.

"Now, trap it with Rock Tomb!"

"That won't work! Use Fury Cutter!"

As the rocks came barreling toward the little bug, Joltik sprung into action and cleaved through the boulders with a vicious cut, making short work of them.

Ash smirked and saw that Joltik was wide open again while it was distracted by the boulders flying toward it. "Hurry, Carbink, use Dazzling Gleam again!"

"Oh no you don't!" Chou anticipated. "Joltik, use Charge Beam!"

The two beams, one of raw fairy power, and the other of pure electricity, clashed in the middle of the field, inciting a struggle between the two. Back and forth the beams clashed, neither side giving an inch until the force was too much and caused a massive explosion, knocking out both Pokémon.

"Both Pokémon are unable to battle. Double K.O.!"

Ash quickly returned Carbink and thanked it for doing so well in the battle. "Still... Light Screen should have at least protected against that. I guess Chou is even stronger than we thought. But we can do this, because I choose you, Tranquill!"

Chou took out his last Poké Ball and growled lowly, holding it tight in his fist. "I won't allow you to squash us anymore! Take flight, Butterfree!" With a mighty toss of the Poké Ball, a beautiful butterfly appeared on the field.

"_Butterfree, the Butterfly Pokémon. The wings are protected by a rain-repellent dust. As a result, it can fly even in the heaviest rains. It loves honey and can locate even the tiniest gardens with the smallest bits of pollen."_

"Beautiful or not, that Pokémon is going down! Its just one more in order for me to win my next badge!" Ash cried out.

As Tranquill flew out onto the field, just like Murkrow, she sustained horrible damage from Stealth Rock that made victory for Ash look bleak, but he certainly wasn't about to give up.

"Let the final battle begin!"

"Tranquill, use Gust!" Ash commanded.

"Butterfree, show them your Gust as well!"

Tranquill and Butterfree both flapped their wings vigorously, whipping up a vicious wind storm in the middle of the field. However, the opponent's attack proved to be more powerful as it eventually tore through Tranquill's Gust and struck her. The Wild Pigeon flew back, but recovered and let out a menacing roar that startled her opponents and made Scott sit on the edge of his seat with a curiously raised eyebrow.

"That's it, Tranquill! Show them how proud of a battler you are! Use Quick Attack!"

With another mighty roar, Tranquill kicked herself into overdrive and slammed her body into Butterfree in the blink of an eye. Butterfree went flying back and by the order of her trainer, was slammed yet again by another Quick Attack.

"Keep it up, Tranquill! Keep using Quick Attack!" Ash yelled with his fist balled up in determination.

Tranquill roared and kept up the barrage of Quick Attacks, flying around every which way too fast for Butterfree to follow.

Anger welled up in Chou's eyes as he yelled "Spin around and use Sleep Powder!"

Butterfree spun, flinging green powder everywhere that caught Tranquill in it. She slowly fell to the ground, struggling to keep her eyes open, having inhaled the powder.

"Tranquill!" Ash gritted his teeth. "Quick, use Air Cutter!" he quickly yelled.

Fighting her sleep for as long as she could, the proud pigeon managed to release a couple of razor blades of air that scored a critical hit on Butterfree. Unfortunately, she fell victim to the attack and was fast asleep on the field.

"Butterfree, end this with Psybeam." Chou smirked happily.

Butterfree released a multicolored beam from its mouth that struck Tranquill in her sleep and defeated her, putting an end to the proud pigeon's battle.

"Ash's Tranquill is unable to battle! Chou's Butterfree is the winner!"

"Thank you, Tranquill. You did great. I'm proud of you." he said as he returned Tranquill to her Poké Ball for much needed rest. He then took out his final Poké Ball, Murkrow, and saw he was still weak from the battle with Joltik. Taking a quick look at the field, it appeared that Stealth Rock was still in effect. Ash held back Murkrow's Poké Ball, afraid to release him into the battle.

"Challenger!" Alexa called out. "You must call out your final Pokémon or else you'll be disqualified!"

"B- but.." Ash stammered with tears in his eyes. "I don't know what to do!" he thought to himself. "If I call out Murkrow, he'll get taken down by Stealth Rock and that'll be it!"

"Oh man..." Rhys said as he leaned forward. "Ash really looks like he's struggling down there."

"I think he knows the second he calls Murkrow out, its all over." Scott said. "This has got to be tough for him."

"Come on, where's your big mouth now?!" Chou yelled out to the young challenger. "You were so confident before! What happened? Get your wings clipped?!"

Anger began to well upside Ash like a boiling tea pot that was ready to explode. He turned his hat backwards, having formulated an _extremely _risky plan, even for him, and pointed at Chou. "Murkrow and I will show you! You can clip our wings, but you'll never clip what we really are! I'm Ash Ketchum of Pallet Town. I _will _be a Pokémon Master and I REFUSE TO LOSE HERE TODAY! Go, Murkrow, fly as fast as you can while using Haze!"

Immediately after being released from his Poké Ball, Murkrow took off with the Stealth Rocks chasing behind him, catching up fairly quickly. He began expelling a black smoke from his beak that covered the entire field once again.

"Now, dive and get behind Butterfree!"

Murkrow stopped mid-air and took a nose dive, cutting clear through the Haze and taking his place behind Butterfree. He felt the rocks collide with the butterfly as he took every single sharp-edged stone for him.

"What?! That's impossible!" Chou yelled.

"Incredible!" Scott smiled, having never seen something quite as daring and chaotic as that.

As Murkrow darted up from the haze, he stopped to look at his trainer. The two were in perfect sync and had the same idea. All that was needed was for Ash to call out the attack to make it official.

"Murkrow, use Drill Peck!" he screamed as loud as he possibly could with the largest grin on his face that anyone had ever seen.

Murkrow began spinning like a high-powered drill and slammed his beak into Butterfree so hard, the force resulted in a large explosion so powerful that both trainers had to shield themselves from the shock wave.

The black bird shot out of the smoke and landed by his trainer's feet. Red eyes pierced through the dust cloud and glared at him as Butterfree emerged on his feet. The stand-off was filled with so much excitement and tension, only the heartbeats of the trainers and their Pokémon could be heard echoing throughout the gym.

As a Pokémon fell, along with everyone's jaw dropping to the floor, the referee was forced to call it.

"Chou's Butterfree is unable to battle! Chou is also out of usable Pokémon, which makes Ash from Pallet Town and his Murkrow victorious!"

Murkrow flew back into his trainer's arms with tears of joy and the two cheered louder than any challenger had before. "We did it!" Ash smiled happily, holding Murkrow up in the air. "We won! We beat Chou!"

Riley and Pikachu ran down from the stands to tackle the winner and congratulate him with hugs. "That was so amazing!" the young boy exclaimed loudly.

"Ahem. Challenger. Up on your feet." Chou said, standing over the two boys sternly. Ash hurried to his feet and looked down at the Gym Leader. "Because of your victory and my unacceptable attitude, you have earned the right to punch me in my-"

But before he could even finish his sentence, Ash had already delivered a hard punch to the little boy's stomach, knocking the wind out of him. "You were saying?" Ash smiled with Riley clinging to him.

"Here.. You've earned it, the Buzz Badge. Along with this TM89, it contains U-Turn." he said weakly, handing him the badge and CD.

Ash happily accepted the two items, pinning the badge to the inner lining of his jacket and placing the CD inside a pocket of his backpack. "Alright, we got the Buzz Badge!" he cheered alongside his Pokémon.

"Next time.. punch me a little lighter, okay?" Chou laughed as Ash helped him up to his feet.

With that, Ash and his friends set off yet again to resume their adventures underneath the evening sun. Scott departed, having taken note of Ash's battling abilities and headed to the next gym in hopes of meeting him there to evaluate him again. Four down, fourteen more to go. And Ash never felt stronger than he did right now.


	18. The Nugget Bridge

To Become a Pokémon Master

Crossed Lovers

Chapter 18

The Nugget Bridge

"Young man, do you have _ANY _idea how long its been since I've heard so much as a simple "Hello" from you?!" Ash's mother screamed over the phone as he stood leaned against a wall in the Cerulean City Pokémon Center.

Ash let out a saddened sigh as he said "About a month now..." and proceeded to apologize profusely.

Delia had none of it and continued to tear into her son for the next few minutes about how worried she'd been about him. Finally, she stopped and with a whimper, said "I'm just glad you're doing OK. Have you been changing your underwear everyday?" she asked.

"Yes, mom." he groaned silently as to not let anyone else hear. "But, I think I could use a new pair of clothes. The ones I started off with when I left the house are kind of... destroyed. All except my hat, at least." Ash looked down to examine the holes in his blue jacket and rips in his black t-shirt. His jeans were covered in dirt and dust and his shoes left little to be desired. They were once bright white tennis shoes, but now had a dark tint of gray and brown to them. "Do you think you could send me some new clothes?"

"Sure thing, honey! I knew you'd be needing some after a while, so I just finished sewing them last night. I'll have Professor Oak's Dragonite fly them over to Cerulean City. You take care, alright? I love you."

"Thanks mom," Ash smiled. "I love you too. I'll call you when we reach the next town." He slowly hung up the phone and returned to his friends who were sitting on a nearby couch. Riley had been playing with Pikachu while he was on the phone and the two looked to be having a grand time together. "Hey, guys. What's up?" Pikachu looked up at his trainer and happily jumped back on his shoulder.

"Oh, my Pokémon were asleep underneath my hat, so I decided to play with Pikachu." Riley smiled.

"How come you don't keep your Pokémon in their Poké Balls?" Ash asked.

Riley shrugged his shoulders and looked up at the straw hat on his head with a puzzled expression. "You know, I don't really know." He took a moment to collect his thoughts and looked up at the red-eyed trainer with a soft smile on his face. "To be honest, I never even caught any of them. Well, except for Rattata because my dad made me. I guess I just like having them out with me so I don't feel all lonely."

"Hey..." Ash said as he sat down next to his number one fan and put a friendly hand on his shoulder. "You know you've got me, Pikachu, Rhys, and even Serena. You won't be lonely as long as we're here!"

Riley slowly looked away and down to his feet with a somewhat sad expression on his face, eyebrows lowering and eyes losing that yellow, childish shine they usually had. "Sure, I've got you, Pikachu, and Rhys, but... I don't think Serena likes me all that much."

"What do you mean?" Ash asked, scooting a little closer to his friends.

The boy whimpered a little. Ash could see the tears forming in his eyes as he tried to say what was on his mind. "Well, it's just-"

"Hey, guys!" Serena said, plopping down in between the two and moving extremely close to Ash. "What's up?" she smiled, oddly enough while staring at Riley.

The young boy quickly perked up and put on a sort of fake smile. "Oh! Nothing much, just talking."

"What about?" Serena quickly asked, still smiling at him.

Riley, taken completely off guard, began stammering and stuttering, trying desperately to think of an excuse. The words were on the tip of his tongue, but Serena's weird smiling kept them from being said. She didn't look away or even blink for a single second.

"Oh, we were just talking about Murkrow and Tranquill, that's all." Ash jumped in. "Yeah, they're both really getting along now. It's good to see."

"Oh..." Serena nodded her head carefully. "Okay, cool! So where are we heading next?"

"To the Cerulean City Gy-"

"Excuse me?" a voice quickly cut in and interrupted him. "Are you Ash Ketchum?"

Ash and his two friends looked up to see a tall man holding a package in his hands. "Yeah, I'm Ash. What's up?"

"A package was sitting outside for you." The man quickly handed him the package, tipped his hat, and walked away. The three children were both somewhat confused, but a smile on Ash's face as he read the sending address cleared things up.

"It's from my mom. My new clothes are here!" he said as he got up and began to walk towards the bathroom. Upon standing up, a small envelope floated to the floor.

Riley quickly retrieved the envelope before Serena could. "Hey, Ash, you dropped something." he said, handing it back to him.

Ash took both the envelope and the box to the bathroom and locked himself the stall, proceeding to change into the new clothes his mother sent him while reading the letter in the envelope.

"_Dear Trainer, we have been keeping a close eye on you and would like to invite you to challenge the Nugget Bridge on Route 24, just north of Cerulean City. We strive to find the strongest trainers and test their strengths to help them grow even stronger. We eagerly await your challenge._

_-Golden Champion"_

Riley and Serena looked over to see a boy with confident red eyes, wearing a blue jacket with short, black sleeves and white hood that drooped behind him. Covering his legs and feet was a pair of blue jeans and blue tennis shoes respectively. However, they saw that he still had on the Pokémon League Expo hat and his green, fingerless gloves.

"Wow, nice clothes!" Riley smiled.

"You look great, Ash." Serena smiled at him.

"Hey, thanks." he smiled at the two of them.

"What was the letter about?"

Ash took the letter and stuffed into his back pocket, turning his hat around and giving that confident smile with his red eyes blazing with energy that could send chills down your spine. "It's a challenge letter!" he smirked. "I've been invited to challenge the Nugget Bridge on Route 24, so we're gonna head there before the gym. Are you guys set to go?"

"Yep!" Riley nodded as he stood up. He began searching around for something and looked back at Ash with furrowed eyebrows. "Hey, where's Rhys?"

Over at the other side of the Pokémon Center, Rhys stood, staring down an enemy he had in his hands. It was cold and wet, dripping all over his hand as his eyes began to narrow on it. Mienfoo joined in on sizing up the enemy and had the same expression on his face. The boy inched his face forward and stuck his tongue out, taking a lick. With just a single lick, he was in ecstasy as he began to devour the devil he held in his hands with Mienfoo trying to get a taste in every now and then. "Oh my Arceus, _this _is what ice cream tastes like! Its so delicious!"

"Rhys?" Ash asked with a tap on the boy's shoulder. He turned around with a somewhat guilty, but still happy expression on his face with ice cream smeared around his and his Pokémon's mouth. "W- what are you doing?"

"Oh!" Rhys giggled nervously, quickly handing the evidence to his Mienfoo. "It's just been a while since I've had ice cream, I guess." He took a napkin from the counter behind him and wiped his face clean. "So what's up? Nice clothes."

"Thanks. We're about to head to Route 24. I got challenged!"

"By who?"

"The Nugget Bridge."

"Oh!" Rhys snapped his fingers. "You know, I heard of that. My dad competed on it and won pretty easily."

"Oh really?" Ash asked with a small smile. "Who's your dad?"

Rhys waved his hand and looked away. "Bah, he's just some guy. You wouldn't know him. Anyway, shouldn't we get going?"

"Right!" Ash nodded with Pikachu jumping on his shoulder. "Off to the Nugget Bridge!"

**. . .**

As Ash on his friends stepped onto Route 25 underneath the afternoon sun, they happened upon the place of Ash's challenge, the Nugget Bridge. It was a long, fabulous structure that hung over a rushing river beneath it. It was painted a golden color that glistened in the sunlight so brightly that it gave off the appearance of being made of actual gold. As the challenger stepped foot on the bridge, he was quickly greeted by a small, excited boy in a boy scouts uniform.

"Hiya! My name's Dalton. Are you Ash Ketchum?" the boy asked excitedly. Ash nodded and the boy smiled, looking back down the bridge with his arm out, revealing several other trainers who stood on its edge. "Welcome to the Nugget Bridge! You'll have to fight through these trainers in order to fight out leader. If you beat him, you'll win a prize. But I gotta warn you, he's pretty tough."

Ash tugged his hat backwards and gave them his confident smirk of the day. "Well we'll just see how tough he is when me and my Pokémon are finished with him. Who's my first battle?"

"That'd be me!" Dalton jumped back, quickly changing into a more serious persona and grabbing a Poké Ball from his pocket. "We rough it all the time. We'll show you just how in tune with nature we are! Go, Seedot!" A small, acorn-like Pokémon with black eyes appeared on the scene.

"_Seedot, the Acorn Pokémon. It attaches itself to trees and dangles. Strong winds can sometimes make it fall, however, this can sometimes work to its advantage as it often likes to scare people."_

Ash quickly unhinged a Poké Ball from his belt and smiled, giving it a toss. "Let's fight nature with nature! I choose you, Bulbasaur!"

Bulbasaur appeared on the battlefield and battle soon ensued with Ash calling off the first command as his friends stood back on the sidelines and watched.

"Bulbasaur, use Double Team!" the trainer called out.

The Seed Pokémon began making copies of himself that spread all around Seedot, confusing greatly as to which one was the real one.

"Whoa!" Riley smiled. "Bulbasaur learned Double Team?"

Rhys nodded. "It must have been during that training after he won the Buzz Badge."

Dalton frantically looked at each of the Bulbasaur and began to panic. "Agh! Forget it! Seedot, spin around and use Razor Wind!"

"We won't let that happen! Bulbasaur, use Headbutt!"

As Seedot began charging a powerful wind energy throughout its body, the copies of Bulbasaur quickly faded, revealing the true one to be behind it. The Acorn Pokémon didn't stand a chance against Bulbasaur's overwhelming force as it was sent flying by the attack and landed on the other side of the bridge, knocked out in one hit.

Dalton returned his Pokémon with a sharp inhale of air. "Wow," he said, breathing out. "They sure weren't lying when they said you were tough. Go on to the next one."

Ash nodded his head, returned his Bulbasaur, and shook the boy's hand, thanking him for the battle and was soon greeted by a stunningly beautiful girl as he made his way to the next trainer. She turned around in her school outfit, complete with a t-shirt that was all too tight and a skirt that was all too short. The boys of the group, minus Rhys, found themselves quickly drooling over her. "So you're the one everyone's been talking about, huh?" she said with a provocative smile. "My name's Melissa. Don't worry," Melissa said, bending down to talk in Ash's face, giving him a perfect view of her cleavage that made Serena nearly gag with disgust and jealousy. "I may be a little older than you, but that doesn't mean you can go easy on me. I want a _hard _battle, got it?"

"Oh give me a break..." Serena groaned loudly.

Ash gulped down his nerves and nodded as she called out her first Pokémon, whom of which was almost as beautiful as her. A gorgeous red fox with six tails appeared on the field, looking at Ash's Pikachu with longing eyes.

"_Vulpix, the Fox Pokémon. Upon birth, it only has one snow white tail. As it grows, the tail splits from the tip and turns red."_

After taking in her beauty for a few more seconds, Ash managed to stay his eyes and call forth his Aipom for a battle.

However... the battle didn't seem to interesting to Ash.

"Vulpix, use Tail Slap!" Melissa ordered while biting her lower lip.

Ash failed to call a command and Aipom was met with four vicious slaps of Vulpix's tails. The failure to give any orders from the boy's side became a trend as he was unable to focus on anything but the woman's beauty.

"Now, give them a Flame Burst attack!"

The Fox Pokémon fired a fiery ball from its mouth that exploded upon impact with Aipom, sending showers of embers in every direction. One landed on Ash's foot and he didn't even notice, which meant Pikachu had to quickly put it out by suffocating it with dirt.

Aipom, having had enough of her trainer's stupidity, jumped up and delivered a newly learned Double Hit attack to his face out of frustration. It worked, Ash having snapped out of it and quickly realizing the new attack she learned.

"Whoa, Aipom! That was Double Hit!" he smiled, congratulating her.

Unfortunately, the celebration was cut short when Vulpix shot an Energy Ball attack by the order of her trainer that slammed into Aipom's back and sent her flying off the bridge into the rushing water below.

"Aipom!" Ash cried out as he leaned over the edge of the railing, but saw no sign of his monkey friend, not even any bubbles rushing up from the waters.

Suddenly, a bright light shot up from the depths of the not-so-deep blue. It shined so bright that it caused everyone to shield their eyes, making them blind to the figure that bolted out of the water and delivered a mighty roar that sounded nothing like Aipom. The light faded and the children turned their attention to the new Pokémon standing in front of Ash, looking more determined than ever. It was taller than Aipom, but still had the same purple fur. A noticeable change were the two tails it now had instead of one. Ash quickly pulled out his Pokédex to analyze the odd Pokémon that stood before them.

"_Ambipom, the Long Tail Pokémon. They work in large colonies to make rings by linking their tails in a show of friendship. It deftly shucks nuts with its two tails and rarely sees any use for its actual arms anymore."_

"Whoa..." Ash exhaled with a smile growing on his face. "Aipom... you evolved?"

The newly evolved Ambipom looked back at her trainer and gave him two thumbs up.

"That's incredible!" he cheered happily, dancing around with his new Pokémon.

"Oh no..." Melissa sighed seductively. "Now we're gonna get beaten _really _hard..."

"Uhm. Excuse me." Ash said, holding his hand up to shut her mouth. "Can you keep it down? My Aipom just evolved."

Melissa suddenly grew an offended scowl on her face as he body posture shifted from call girl to serious hooker mode. "Oh screw you, kid! Vulpix, use Tail Slap!"

"Show them what real tail power is, Ambipom! Use Double Hit!" Ash cried out.

The two Pokémon dashed at each other and jumped up, each one ready to beat the living daylights out of each other. Vulpix turned around, preparing to smack Ambipom with its tail, but she grabbed her with one of her tails and slapped her with the other one twice, sending it back into the ground once the attack was complete. The red fox struggled to its feet. It was then that Ash could see any attack would be the final blow.

"Now, Ambipom, finish this up with Mega Punch!"

Ambipom focused energy to the tip of one of her tails as she charged and delivered a harsh uppercut to the fox's jaw, sending it flying back and bouncing on the bridge until it lay there motionless, defeated. The hot young school girl returned her prized Pokémon and refused to speak a word to the challenger and his new Pokémon, only pointing him in the direction of the next trainer and storming off the bridge, presumably to the Pokémon Center, or wherever that forty-cent store she bought her make-up from.

Ash continued on down the bridge until he was met by a small toddler who didn't even look to be finished with preschool. He had on overalls and a teddy bear behind him as he sucked his thumb and looked up at the tall challenger. His face was covered in cute freckles, complete with a pair of big, blue eyes and long, orange hair that reached down to the back of his neck. "My name is Coulson. My mommy always said to be nice to everyone I meet."

"Awww.." the group collectively sighed.

As Ash knelt down to shake the boy's hand, he suddenly found the collar of his new jacket being grabbed by the small hand of the boy. Almost in an instant, all adorableness had disappeared and was replaced by something much more sinister and vile. "But my mommy's not here right now." he growled in the ten-year-old's face.

After being thrown back, the two trainers took their place on the battlefield with a tense wind rushing through their hairs. The boys drew their arms back, Poké Balls in hand, and called out their Pokémon. On Ash's side, his recently obtained Arbok, that eyed Pikachu oddly and slithered over to give him a few uncomfortable, slow licks before returning to her spot, and on Coulson's side stood a small puppy with an expression on its face that made it look anything but adorable.

"_Lillipup, the Puppy Pokémon. The long hair on its face actually acts as amazing radar that allows it to check its surroundings. Though very brave, it is smart enough to figure out its odds and avoid battle if necessary."_

The look on Lillipup's face gave off the feeling it thought it had pretty good odds. As the battle began, Ash could definitely see how it thought that.

"Arbok, use Poison Sting!"

"Lillipup, Take Down!"

Arbok fired poisonous needles that rained down on the field. The small puppy dashed through the shower of needles and slammed its body into the cobra's chest, knocking her back a little, but also doing damage to itself.

"Now, use Mud-Slap!" Coulson quickly ordered before Ash could think of an attack to call out.

Lillipup opened its mouth and fired a hard-packed ball of mud that smacked Arbok's face and splashed all over her eyes. She screamed in pain as the gunk burned her eyes, making it impossible to open them without experiencing excruciating pain.

"No, Arbok!" Ash gritted his teeth. "Can you still fight?!"

Arbok was too busy yelling in pain to hear her trainer, which forced him to call her back and send out Pikachu.

"All right, Pikachu, let's get some revenge for Arbok." Ash smiled. "Use Quick Attack!"

Pikachu quickly bolted across the field and smacked into the puppy hard, but it managed to stay its ground and push him back.

"Lillipup, Shadow Ball!"

"Counter with Electro Ball!"

Lillipup charged a shadowy orb of energy and fired it from its mouth while Pikachu sent energy through his body and up to his tail, forming it in a ball, and whipped it at his opponent. The two attacks collided in the middle of the field, exploding with massive energy, covering the battlefield in smoke.

Pikachu quickly jumped up from the smoke and by the order of his trainer, crashed down on Lillipup with with a powerful Mega Kick that sent the poor, unsuspecting puppy through the bridge and into the current below.

Coulson returned his Lillipup before it was washed away by the river and let out a small whimper of defeat. "T- Thank you for the battle." he said with obvious tears in his eyes, doing a complete 180 with the violent personality that was displayed not too long ago and retreated from the bridge to the Pokémon Center.

Now all the stood at the end of the bridge was a tall man dressed in black. He greeted Ash and his friends with a handshake and a smile. "Ah, you must be Ash. I've been watching your battles on the bridge and I must say I am very impressed. Which is why I'd like to proclaim you the new Golden Champion!"

"Wow!" Ash's eyes twinkled with excitement. "I really did it!" he cheered with his Pikachu.

The man reached into his pocket and took out a Poké Ball and presented it to the winner. "Congratulations. Here is your prize." he said, practically forcing the ball onto him. Ash took out his Pokédex to analyze the little black fish he saw resting in it.

"_Magikarp, the Fish Pokémon. It is said that in ancient times, it was stronger than the pathetically weak descendants that exist today. It is classified as the most useless and weakest Pokémon in the world and is virtually worthless in both power and speed."_

"That doesn't seem like a very fair prize..." Riley said, folding his arms. Rhys agreed with him along with Serena joining in on the general consensus of Ash's prize.

"Why is it black?" Ash asked, noticing that it was a different color than both the regular entry and the shiny entry for the Pokémon.

The man grew a devilish smirk as he explained. "Well, you see, that Magikarp was the result of extremely intense training and experimentation. With your skills, Ash, you would make a great addition to this organization I'm part of called Team Rocket. Just think how powerful and we could make you and your Pokémon look if you jus-"

Suddenly, with Ash officially being in possession of the fish, the Poké Ball containing it teleported away after sensing that he had a full team on him.

"What in the world?!" the man's eyes widened at the disappearance of the Pokémon. "Kid, what did you do with that Pokémon?! It was just for show!" he said, grabbing Ash by his jacket collar and hoisting him up in the air.

Ash's eyes narrowed and fixated on the man's shifty face. "Did you say you were part of Team Rocket?"

The man delivered a quick jab to Ash's jaw, quieting him. "Shut your trap, you runt! Now tell me, what did you do with that Magikarp?!"

Rhys backed away and allowed a yellow power to swirl within the palm of his hand behind his back. The mysterious aura took on the color of the bridge and traveled underneath everyone undetected. It traveled up the man's body, across his arms, and into Ash.

Ash's senses suddenly heightened as he disappeared completely from the man's arms, vanishing in a cloud of smoke.

"What?!" the man screamed, looking around for any trace of the boy that was just in his grasp. As he turned his attention to the other three children standing there just as confused as he was, he seemed ready to threaten them.

Ash quickly reappeared a few inches away from the villainous man and conjured a barrier of red aura around him to keep him in place. Distraught and traumatized by the boy's strange powers, he began to bang crazily and desperately on the barrier, begging to be let free so he could run away. The boy did what the man asked and surely enough, he bolted down the bridge faster than a Ninjask with Speed Boost, never to be seen again by the children.

"What the heck happened?" Riley questioned, moving to go to Ash's side.

However, Serena quickly rushed in Riley's way and wrapped her arms around him, putting on a very convincing show of tears and sadness. "Oh Ash! I thought something horrible happened to you! Are you okay?!"

"I'm fine..." Ash said, being taken off guard by the girl's sudden hug and tears. As she looked up at him, their eyes met, a fiery, determined red clashing with a soft, quiet blue that made each other blush as they quickly pulled away.

Riley stood, now somewhat away from the group with his head held down as Serena pulled away from his friend and shot a crooked, but somewhat sadistically happy glare at him. She knew _exactly _what she did and was pleased that he couldn't get his hands on him before her, or now at all for that matter.

"Ash, are you okay?" Rhys asked, placing a hand on his shoulder, trying to conceal his own aura.

Ash nodded, but looked at Rhys oddly for a second, as if he were suspicious about something. "I'm fine..." he said slowly, looking into the boy's brown eyes. Strangely enough, they seemed to mirror his with the only difference being the color. But he thought it not important right now as he shook his head out of his trance and came back to reality. "That man..." he said, looking down the golden bridge now to see it completely empty and void of the trainers that he battled. "He's part of Team Rocket and he did things to that Magikarp he gave me..."

Knowing instantly what he had to do, Ash tore down the Nugget Bridge with his friends close behind him. He set a course for the Pokémon Center back in Cerulean City.

"I've got to find out what they did to that Magikarp!"


	19. Burning Rage

To Become a Pokémon Master

Crossed Lovers

Chapter 19

Burning Rage

"Let's go, Arbok, use Poison Sting!" Ash briskly commanded.

Arbok opened her mouth and fired hundreds of poisonous needles that the small root Pokémon evaded easily as they hit the ground and faded. The cobra tried to keep up with the small Pokémon's swift movements, but was outmatched by its speed and continued to miss with her attacks.

"_Bellsprout, the Flower Pokémon. Even though it has a very slender body, its blindingly fast when attacking prey. Because its bud, it is often rumored that it is a type of legendary mandrake plant."_

Ash watched the Flower Pokémon swiftly dodge his Arbok's attack and quickly thought of an idea. "Arbok, if we can't beat it with speed, we can corner it with size! Use your tail to trap it into a Bind attack!"

Arbok let out a hiss as she slammed her tail down in the path of the Bellsprout. However, this wasn't any ordinary wrap. Arbok's tail glowed with a mysterious power as it quickly moved forward and smacked the Flower Pokémon clear across the field they battled in. Everyone watched as the poor Bellsprout flew through the air and landed behind bushes far off from them.

Suddenly, a loud shriek followed by a small explosion of energy where the Bellsprout landed brought the kids out of their resting spot and charging down the plains towards the scene of the accident. We rejoin our heroes on the wide open plains of Route 25 a few days after the incident on Nugget Bridge as they peered through the bushes and happened upon a small campsite set up by a female trainer.

The campsite was a complete wreck as there were noticeable holes in the tent, a fire pit that was now nothing more than a crater with smoke from the previous energy explosion, various supplies spilled all over the place, and not to mention the fact that there was an explosion there not too long ago.

"Ow..." a girl said arose from the wreckage in what used to be a white, short sleeve t-shirt and white shorts with white sneakers, but were now filthy with dirt all over them. She looked down and groaned angrily as the Bellsprout from earlier took off in a panic. Her messy, blonde hair made it hard to see the four children in front of her as she tried to brush it out of her eyes. Once she got a clear look, however, she saw a young boy with an Arbok and a Pikachu and knew immediately who to direct her anger towards. "You!" she screamed.

"Me?" Ash said surprised as he quickly returned his Arbok to her Poké Ball, trying to hide the evidence. But it was useless as the girl already put two and two together.

"Yes, _you!" _the girl said as her hands fell to her hips and she began berating the poor boy. "Just look at what you've done to my campsite. I had enough food to last for days and now its all gone!" she pointed to the spilled cans of beans and scattered junk food with bottles of condiments all leaking out what they contained. Much to her surprise and disgust, the boy's Pikachu had quickly taken to a bottle of ketchup as if it were a succulent meal and devoured it. "Hey, you rat! Get out of my ketchup!"

"Hey, don't call my Pikachu a ra-"

"Can someone _please_ get that rat under control?" the girl immediately cut him off, trying to wipe the dirt off her stark white clothing. She suddenly looked over at an expensive, white handbag that was covered in dirt and let out an extremely frustrated groan that made all but Ash keep their distance.

"Stop calling my Pikachu a rat!" he yelled out at her, but the girl seemed to be more focused on her destroyed campsite and ruined clothes to pay him any mind. He quickly approached her in the heat of the moment and swung her around by her shoulder. "I'm talking to you!" the trainer said in her face.

"Oh, I'm sorry." the girl suddenly apologized, throwing Ash off guard. "It's just that I can get a little unfocused when idiot trainers destroy my camp."

"Yeah?" Ash put his hands on his hips and began to grow a snark expression on his face. "Well I can get a little unfocused when people call my Pikachu a rat!"

"Oh," the girl scoffed. "I'm sorry, you wanna get your little rat over there then before he overdoses on ketchup?"

"Oh man, it'd be a shame if my _rat_ shocked you right now." Ash threatened nonchalantly.

The girl immediately shoved him back with her arms and growled at him. "Don't call me a man! I'm a girl, my name's Clara!"

"Don't shove me then!" Ash said, shoving her back.

Riley clung to Rhys as the two watched tensions between Ash and Clara grow higher. The shoving and trading of insults continued until Serena surprisingly stepped in the middle to calm the two. However, this effort would soon prove to be futile as there was no going back for either of the trainers now.

"Guys!" Serena said, placing her hands on the two trainers' chests to keep them at bay. "This fighting won't solve anything. Now why don't we just sit down and talk this out?"

Clara quickly slapped Serena's hand away and turned back with slight antipathy, loathing the stupid girl's words and folding her arms, beginning to grow uninterested. "Why don't you get your annoying girlfriend to butt out of this?"

"Wh- what did you say?" Ash growled. His anger began to take form as aura than started to swirl around in his tightening fists.

Rhys focused his powers to repress the aura within Ash and keep it inside of him. "Come on..." he thought. "Don't do it. Don't break that promise to Queen Cameran..."

Ash's fists slowly released their tension and he took a deep breath. All at once, the anger just seemed to leave him and he began to think more clearly. He looked around saw the trouble he caused and called his Pikachu over to his shoulder. "Look..." the boy folded his arms. "I'm sorry about hitting that Bellsprout over in your camp. My Arbok and I should have been more careful. How can we help out?"

The girl's eyes widened at his words as she let out a small chuckle. "Help out? Look around, kid. A ton of my stuff is ruined because of you and you think you can just replace it like that?"

"N- no, I just-"

Clara let out a loud groan again and folded her arms even tighter. "Arceus above, you annoy the crap out of me right now."

"Well excuse me, but if you'd just shut your big _mouth _once in a while, you'd see that I'm not trying to!"

A blue dragon suddenly shot out of a nearby tree like a bullet and glided down next to Clara, holding a handful of berries within its claws. Ash quickly took out his Pokédex to analyze the new Pokémon while Clara took out her own Pokédex to gather information on Ash's Pikachu.

"_Gabite, the Cave Pokémon. As it digs to expand its nest, if habitually searches for sparkling gems that it hoards."_

"_Pikachu, the Mouse Pok_émon. _It has small electric sacs in both cheeks. When threatened, they will discharge electricity stored in them. They often use the electricity to roast berries as well. Pikachu can raise their tails to check their surroundings, however, they are often struck by lightning in this pose."_

"Thanks Gabite." Clara smiled, taking the berries and stuffing them in her ruined bag. Due to all the holes, however, they just wound up falling out of it. She suddenly looked over at Ash's Pikachu and her friendly smile turned into a devilish one. "Tell you what," she clicked her tongue. "If you battle me with your Pikachu, I'll call this even. Sound fair?"

"Sounds good to me. Pikachu and I love battling." he said as the two trainers took their place, spacing back a distance from each other. Pikachu hopped onto the battlefield with sparks flying from his cheeks while Gabite glided out and landed with an unnerving glare at her opponent.

Clara stood with her eyes narrowed, fixed on Pikachu. "We'll take the first move since you destroyed our stuff. Gabite, use Take Down!"

"Pikachu, meet it with Mega Kick!"

Gabite took off with incredible speed and charged at her foe. Pikachu allowed Gabite to get close and jumped at the last second, letting her go underneath him. As he prepared to slam a high-powered kick down his enemy, she immediately stopped and shot up, ramming into him and canceling out his attack. Ash gasped at the Cave Pokémon's speed and knew it was time to formulate another plan.

As Pikachu fell down from Gabite's attack, Ash saw ample time for Pikachu to pull off an attack before hitting the ground, so he called for an Electro Ball attack. Right as he hit the ground, the electric mouse quickly sparked up a ball of electricity at the tip of his tail and performed a flip, slamming into the earth but managing to whip the electrically-charged ball at the Cave Pokémon. The attack took Gabite off guard as she was met head on with the Electro Ball smacking her tough body, but she didn't seem too concerned. As the move hit and caused an explosion of energy, Gabite calmly walked out, brushing the dirt off her chest and holding her head up high.

"W- What?!" Ash said as he watched Gabite emerge unharmed.

Clara let out a chuckle as she folded her arms and shook her head disapprovingly at her opponent. "Gabite's a Ground-type, which means she's unaffected by Electric-type attacks. Now, watch our this- Gabite, use Sandstorm!"

Gabite fired a brown orb of energy into the air from her mouth that exploded and released vicious winds of powerful sand that covered the battlefield. The storm brewed and blew so powerfully that it buffeted Pikachu to his knees. A low growling began to emit from deep within the storm as multiple figures of the Cave Pokémon appeared and disappeared before Pikachu's eyes, its red, sadistic eyes glaring at him all the while.

Ash brought collar of his t-shirt up to his nose to protect sand from flying in it, not thinking about the damage it could have done to his eyes as he tried to search for his Pokémon in the blinding sandstorm. "Pikachu! Can you hear me?!"

But the vicious blowing sands drowned out the voice of his trainer as the storm continued to buff him.

Clara's chuckling began to take a demonic turn as she saw how much fun Gabite was having taunting the poor mouse. She began to go along with it and starting having the time of her life, thinking of ways to torture Pikachu to get back at Ash for destroying her camp. "Hey, Gabite, get him with Sand Tomb!"

Gabite spun around, kicking up a tornado of sand within the sandstorm and sent it across the storm. The tornado whipped down the field and engulfed Pikachu, catching him in its drawing force and slamming it to and fro with its raging sands.

"Finish him off with Dragon Breath!" Clara ordered.

The Cave Pokémon let out a powerful roar as she charged across the storm, disappearing and reappearing with the winds of the sandstorm until she met Pikachu eye to eye. She stared him down as he was stuck in the whipping Sand Tomb and discharged a terrible breath of mighty dragon gust that blew the poor mouse out of the storm and into his trainer's chest, pushing the two back into the tree, knocking Pikachu out.

"Pikachu!" Ash said as he got up from the trunk of the tree with his fainted Pokémon wrapped tightly in his arms. Riley quickly rushed to his friend's side and used his powers to heal him, making him weak and weary in the process. Pikachu jumped right back up and Riley fell right back down, leaning on Ash as his knees wobbled and he breathed heavily, gasping for air.

The sandstorm quickly faded away and Clara and her Gabite approached Ash, lording her win over him. "Well, well, I'd say we had fun, didn't we, Gabite?" Her Pokémon agreed and the two laughed at the young boys. "I'd say that makes us mostly even, don't you?"

"Mostly even?!" Ash snarled as he got up and stood in Clara's face. "You won, you got what you wanted, so that means we're _completely _even."

Clara shrugged her shoulders and callously turned her back to Ash and his friends. "Say what you will, but I get the feeling we're gonna see you and your Pikachu again, and when we do, we'll have even more fun."

Suddenly, a brown-furred little fox jumped out from the bushes nearby and perked its ears up as it began sniffing the ground and searching for what everyone thought to be berries. Both Ash and Clara took out their Pokédexes and immediately guffawed at what the little Pokémon was, which then made Ash feel stupid for not remembering what it was at first. After all, it _was _his intended Pokémon before Gary got in the way.

"_Eevee, the Evolution Pokémon. It is a rare Pokémon that can adapt to harsh environments through evolution which is caused by its unstable genetic makeup. Thanks to this, however, it has many different evolutionary forms, each one of them very powerful."_

"Oh my Arceus and Giratina..." Ash said under his breath, looking at the cute Evolution Pokémon dig around in the sand and pull up a small berry that it proceeded to eat. "Now's my chanc-"

"Sorry, kid." Clara said, shoving him back and taking a stand in front of him. "I saw it first and I already narrowed my eyes. Besides, I won that battle and my Gabite barely broke a sweat. We're so ready for this."

The Eevee's ears twitched as it looked up and saw Clara eying it down. She then quickly dug around in her pocket and took an orange stone with a fire burning brightly inside of it.

"What is that?" Ash asked.

"Its a Fire Stone." Clara said with a sadistic-like smile. "Its what you use when you want to evolve an Eevee into a Flareon. See? That's why I want that Eevee. But see..." the girl suddenly chucked the Fire Stone. Eevee screamed as the Fire Stone hit it on the head and it began to glow, its body changing shape and form into a large, red orange animal with a tail that now looked as if it were blazing with fire. "Battling an Eevee is no fun. I'd rather battle a Flareon."

"What in the world?!" Ash yelled as he watched the Evolution Pokémon change, not to adapt to the environment, but to suit Clara's needs of a good battle. He quickly took out his Pokédex and aimed it at the newly-evolved Pokémon.

"_Flareon, the Flame Pokémon. Its body temperature is over 1,500 degrees Fahrenheit and it has a flame sac in its body that allows it to blow flames that are over 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit."_

Clara smiled happily at the Flareon, but it, however, did not seem to be too happy. The Flame Pokémon let out a distressed roar as it began to blow flames all over the sandy land, igniting what little grasses stuck out in a scarlet orange as it dashed, exhaling fiery hot embers now at trees that lit them aflame.

"Look at what you've done!" Ash cried out as he reached for Tranquill and Carbink's Poké Balls. "Tranquill, help blow the flames out with Gust and Carbink, put out the flames with Rock Tomb!"

The two Pokémon broke free from their Poké Balls and began their work trying to put out the blazing flames that only seemed to spread, despite their desperately hard work. Serena was forced to call out her Rhyhorn to help with Rock Tomb and Rhys relied on Mienfoo with Stone Edge. As everyone worked to put the flames out, Clara and her Gabite that could have been a major help seemed to only be concerned about capturing the raging Flareon.

"Clara! A little help, please?!" Ash called out as the Pokémon tried their hardest to save the trees and grasslands.

However, Clara paid him no mind as she worked with her Gabite to capture the Flareon. "Gabite, use Sand Tomb!"

Gabite whipped up a tornado of sand, but was met with scalding hot embers from Flareon that beat out the attack and struck the Cave Pokémon, burning her vigorously.

Ash quickly broke away from the fray that was the burning forest and focused his aura to send a calming feeling to the Flareon. The aura of the Flame Pokémon was so intense that it burned him slightly just trying to focus his power around it. Attempt after attempt while it valiantly and angrily fought off the girl and her dragon resulted in failure each time, scalding Ash with burns on his arm as Flareon refused any outside help from the aura. It was then that Ash knew what he had to do, for the good of both Flareon and the forest.

A red barrier appeared around Clara and her Gabite, rendering them immobile. The two of them began to panic and bang on the barrier as they looked back and saw a red glow around Ash's body. He simply looked over at them with vengeance in his powerful, red eyes and said "No."

As Flareon began to target Ash and exhale burning hot embers at the boy, he raised his hand and again, simply said "No." The embers were caught in a field of red energy and dispersed. The Flame Pokémon roared angrily and rushed him with a Tackle attack, but he quickly summoned a heater shield made of aura and blocked the attack. As Flareon was pushed back by the shield, it prepared to charge once again, but soon found itself being pulled into a Poké Ball that the boy quickly threw. The ball fell to the ground amidst the flames and wiggled repeatedly until it slowly stopped, completing the capture.

Ash looked back at the burning forest and tightened his muscles, screaming with pain as his aura escaped from the veins all over his body and washed over the flames, putting them out. Energy completely expelled, the Aura Knight fell to the ground, comatose, for his mission was complete. The barriers around Clara and her Pokémon disappeared as his body his the scorched plains, which allowed her to take her quick, terrified leave. The Knight's friends rushed to his side and helped him up, however, he remained unconscious. But there was a smile on his face, as if he were smiling to the submission of the burning rage and safety of the forest, even though part of it was torched. As Clara ran away in her fright, she swore under her breath at the lost chance of capturing the Flareon and cursed the Aura Knight, promising that next time she saw him, she wouldn't be holding back. And neither would her Gabite.


End file.
